Proud to be supporting The Great Big Green Week

The Great Big Green Week is the UK’s biggest ever celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature. 

Between 24 September and 2 October this year, Great Big Green Week will unleash a wave of support for action to protect the planet. Tens of thousands of people in every corner of the country will celebrate the heartfelt, brave, everyday actions being taken to stand up for nature and fight climate change.

The West of England Combined Authority and the region’s councils have each declared a Climate Emergency and committed to achieve net zero by 2030. However, to do so will require an unprecedented rate and scale of change. It requires applying technologies and techniques and establishing and maintaining levels of public and business engagement which are currently the exception rather than the norm.

As part of this activity, YTKO, which is committed to providing free, impactful, sustainability support to businesses and the self-employed across the West of England has created the Sustainable Impact Champion Scheme, supported by the West of England Combined Authority. This offers support for businesses, putting the focus on individuals and aiming to change behaviour to create environmental benefits within their company.  Find out more about becoming a Sustainable Impact Champion here or join a Become a Sustainable Impact Champion webinar – more info here.

Building Growth South West, which is delivered by YTKO, also offers improved skills and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) training to the local construction workforce in collaboration with Bristol Housing Festival and MOBIE. 

The MMC training is being delivered as part of the Workforce for the Future programme, on behalf of the West of England Combined Authority. It is part-funded by the European Social Fund.

Some key facts around the impact of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC)*: 

• Homes England has targets for 25% of all new homes built to be done using MMC and offsite solutions due to the sustainability benefits. 
• Building in Construction is responsible for around 40% of all global energy relations carbon emissions. Using MMC and offsite methods cuts carbon emissions by up to 45% by comparison. 
• The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) predictions state that almost 50% of all new housing in the next 5 years could be built using MMC but less than 17% of construction sole traders, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have any knowledge or understanding of MMC systems. 

Find out more about Building Growth South West, who are co-Sponsors at the Sterling Business Expo on Friday 14 October. 

There are also a range of events organised by Building Growth South West including breakfasts, lunches and workshops over the coming months – find out more here 

*References:

https://www.cse.org.uk/projects/view/1363

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/a-quarter-of-affordable-homes-must-be-mmc/5107883.article

http://www.infrastructure-intelligence.com/article/jun-2022/mmc-cuts-carbon-emissions-45-academic-study-reveals

https://www.citb.co.uk/media/fdyae2zg/citb-mmc-report-mar-2019.pdf