There is no longer a debate: the world needs to embrace cleaner, more sustainable energy sources – and fast. 

Doing so is a vital part of meeting targets for curbing carbon emissions, not to mention the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals¹. But it will not happen overnight, and a huge amount of innovation will be required to develop the reliable, dynamic systems we need.

Construction is a vital force here. The industry will play a key role in the future of sustainable energy, helping build the infrastructure our new energy systems will rely on². But in doing so this itself presents an opportunity to embrace cleaner, greener construction methods..

Roughly 10% of the UK’s CO₂ emissions are a direct result of construction activities. Yet many have still to embrace more energy efficient products, like mobile ECO welfare and tower lights – and the industry has lagged behind when it comes to innovation in recent years. 

So, while construction has a key role to play in bringing about positive changes in the energy industry, we also have a responsibility to develop more sustainable ways of working.

What can infrastructure contractors do?

Changing the way sites are run might seem like an overwhelming task. But as we’ve discussed before in relation to our mobile ECO welfare units, many of the biggest wins can come from seemingly small changes.

A simple example is the units and lighting that your site uses: many older models are hugely energy inefficient, both producing huge amounts of emissions and requiring huge amounts of support to run.

Welfare units and vans, lighting units, Vehicle Mounted Access Platforms – these may not strike you as key parts of a clean energy revolution. But that is largely because very few companies that build these products have fully embraced the possibilities of innovative technology

Take our ECOXLi mobile welfare unit

It operates on a next generation Lithium cell battery and uses full solar power technology to power the onboard energy requirements. Not only does this enable the unit to run longer – it minimises the need for generator power and results in an incomparably cleaner energy system.

The welfare unit also features a Smart Telemetry system, which enables real-time monitoring of energy usage and provides live volumetric data for your site. Ultimately, this ensures that energy is used as efficiently as possible, emissions are lowered and your site is more sustainable.

Embracing products like this is a simple but highly effective way for contractors to drastically improve their site, as well as demonstrating to clients that they are forward-thinking.