The UN Environment Programme states that the buildings and construction sector was the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in 2023, accounting for 37% of the global total.
Greater collaboration is therefore required throughout the construction process to reduce this figure.
Option offers contractual provision for climate
NEC has developed the NEC4 Secondary Option X29 Climate Change to enable contract users to make better and more collaborative decisions to mitigate climate change impacts in their projects.
The team of experts responsible for the new option looked at key issues in addressing climate change when using NEC contracts. While the scope could be used to address the impact of the works on climate change, this approach relied too much on users understanding what they needed to include in the scope and how to link it to the contract's processes.
Combining existing options was also considered; however, this did not enable the scale of change that is required to effectively managing climate change-related issues.
The NEC's main goal in creating X29 was to create a consistent approach to addressing climate change that was in line with the rest of the contract's structure – the conditions of contract, scope, procedures, risk allocation, reward mechanisms, etc. – and compliant with applicable laws.
Option X29 was thus created to give NEC users a tool to address the environmental impact of their works and associated risks in a proactive and collaborative manner.
The key benefits of doing so are:
- signposting the sustainability issues to be covered in the scope to raise their profile
- encouraging progress towards climate change targets
- adding to existing processes or creating new ones that help reduce the contribution of the works, service and supply to climate change.
New terms make expectations explicit
The first of the new terms in X29, the climate change requirements, enable NEC users to outline explicitly any sustainability-related objectives and targets that must be achieved as part of the scope.
The requirements can be set by the client independently or in collaboration with the supplier. These requirements also identify the climate change partners, being stakeholders that the supplier must collaborate with.
A climate change plan is then produced by the supplier, setting out their strategy for achieving the requirements; this could include identifying the stakeholders, roles, timescales, milestones, tools and tasks necessary to fulfil them.
This link between requirements and plan is one of the key strengths of X29.
It enables asset owners, designers, constructors and suppliers to engage the supply chain from the start of the project, when their feedback can still influence asset design and contract structure.
This early engagement is crucial as the bulk of positive environmental impact often comes from changes made at pre-construction stages.
The final term introduced by X29 is the performance table, which provides the client with a performance management regime.
Positive and negative incentives can be added for the performance targets. The use of the incentives, or indeed the table, is not mandatory.
Furthermore, the table itself does not form part of the scope. This means that failure to meet the targets does not result in a defect but is instead addressed through the table alone.
Collaboration in its production is more likely to mean the targets recorded in the performance table are a fair and accurate reflection of the capability, resources and expertise of supply chain partners.
X29 enables NEC users to collaboratively embed the sustainability and environmental needs of the works while crowding-in the capabilities and expertise of the supply chain at earlier stages of the procurement process.
This results in stronger engagement across the supply chain as goals and expectations are set collectively, while the risks to parties are identified and accounted for early on.
The X29 mechanisms build a path towards greater visibility and control over sustainability-related risks, enhancing their management across the life of the asset's lifetime.
X29 can support carbon and other metrics
Option X29 enables the implementation and management of processes to track and assess carbon in line with standards such as RICS' Whole life carbon assessment for the built environment (WLCA).
This and other standards can be used by a range of professionals including designers, engineers, surveyors and consultants to estimate the amount of emissions from the early stages of development though to the end of an asset's life, giving visibility to embodied, operational and user-generated carbon.
X29 is not restricted to carbon management, though, and can be used to monitor a range of issues including biodiversity, material use, waste reduction, recycling or mandating renewable energy.
For instance, other frameworks such as BS 8683 Process for designing and implementing biodiversity net gain could be integrated into the X29 climate change requirements alongside WLCA.
As the various frameworks and tools addressing sustainability in the industry and consensus around them evolves, so will this content.