Reporting Emissions
More general contractors, subcontractors, and owners are finding the changing economic environment is requiring more rigorous reporting requirements on projects. One contractor in particular is up for the challenge, tracking and reporting emissions across its line of partners.
To help, Webcor Builders, www.webcor.com, San Mateo, Calif., now asks for GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions data in contract bids from its suppliers.
Webcor is working on its enterprise carbon accounting with Climate Earth, www.climateearth.com, San Francisco, Calif., a company providing automated GHG tracking and reporting. In the process, Webcor found 99.5% of its carbon footprint exists within its supply chain.
According to Phil Williams, vice president of technical systems and sustainability, Webcor, GHG data is part of the technical specifications, along with length, width, height, and strength, saying it is not a sole criterion for winning a bid, but suppliers cannot compete without it.
Webcor has been reporting and tracking emissions on a number of projects. For example, the company was one of the first to report emissions related to fuel and electricity use to the CCAR (California Climate Action Registry), www.climateregistry.org, Los Angeles, Calif.
According to Chris Erickson, founder and CEO, Climate Earth, changing market forces will soon compel all industries to implement enterprise carbon accounting as a standard practice.
For the construction industry, greenhouse gas emissions have been a topic of interest, and in the coming year, contractors may want to keep an eye on greenhouse gas measurement requirements.