Sustainability in Modular Construction: Why ESG matters to Algeco
We have just released our latest sustainability report Titled ‘Sustainable Modular Solutions for a Fast-Moving World’, which offers a comprehensive look at our progress to date on ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) commitments and sets out our goals for the future.
The latest report is being rolled out across the worldwide Modulaire Group and provides details on how we will deliver the strategy using three key pillars: Environment, Social and Governance (ESG), with circularity, adaptability, and leasing at the core. Our ‘loops within loops’ model is at the heart of the strategy, which employs circular economy principles to minimise waste throughout our whole operations and activities.
Ultimately, our stated goal is to achieve Net Zero carbon within an end-to-end supply chain before 2050. Key elements include the drive for energy, water and waste reduction within our own operations, as well as our customer solutions.
In publishing our ESG strategy on our website, we are resolutely committed to transparency in sharing our progress and learnings. This latest report includes some important updates, although our goals remain consistent: Promote ESG throughout all business activities and processes to reduce or mitigate Environmental and Social impacts and improve Governance and sustainable practices. As part of this process, Algeco will be driving forward, innovating and accelerating the delivery of a low carbon future and contributing to our six stated SDG (Social Development Goals) goals.
To view these goals and understand how Algeco will achieve them, view page 9 of the report.
Loops within loops
We are pleased that we are already making significant progress implementing our ESG strategy, with eight out of the nine KPIs achieved for Governance; five out of six KPI’s achieved for Environmental; and eight out of the nine KPIs for our Social purpose.
However, we know that achieving our KPI’s is not the end of the journey and that to be truly Sustainable as a business we need to be constantly reviewing our targets and pushing ourselves to do better. To do that we have been clear about the fundamentals that will allow us to meet our ESG goals.
For example, we see our modular building solutions contributing to an advancing circular economy that is fundamental to our delivery of a low carbon business. That’s important because it helps us to minimise resource consumption, and operate in as many ‘circular loops’ as possible, meaning our modular solutions are less intensive than traditional construction, and with a lower carbon footprint.
Making this the foundation of delivering our goals allows us to further innovate in making sure our modular building units are fully reusable, flexible, reconfigurable, and recyclable, meaning they can adapt to changing demands, shifting demographics and climate change risks. From our customers point of view, leasing our site accommodation and decant temporary buildings means they remain under our control for their full lifecycle. That allows us to continually use innovative new ways to manage environmental issues, such as recycling and waste, with the goal of mitigating environment and social impacts.
Figures published in our latest sustainability report strikingly highlight how our modular buildings are already delivering these ‘circular loops’: Our Algeco units can be reused, on average, up to 20x or more during their lifecycle (page 6, Algeco Sustainability Report), whilst the units are up to 96% recyclable at the end of their life. In terms of offsite buildings, the benefits of our Modern Methods of Construction delivers around 73 percent less carbon emissions versus traditional construction
Fact based approach
The foundations to delivering our ESG goals starts with data, which is why our latest Sustainability Report has been prepared in accordance with UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), TCFD (The Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures) and UNGC (United Nations Global Compact) Standards.
Setting out our ESG strategy in a publicly available document indicates the transparency that our business has to sharing the Algeco approach to climate-related risks and opportunities going forward. By taking positive action today, and advancing our ESG Sustainability Strategy in 2022 and beyond, we believe that we will make meaningful and long lasting change.
An element of that will involve partnering with our customers as we work together to reduce GHG emissions. There is much to do, although we are proud of what has been achieved so far.
We will continue to report on progress of implementing our Sustainable Modular Solutions for a fast-Moving World. It will remain truly embedded in our purpose and is fundamental to everything we do at Algeco.
To find out more about Sustainable Modular Solutions for a Fast Moving World, visit: https://www.algeco.co.uk/sustainability
