1.0 COMMITMENT TO ACHIEVING NET ZERO
Purcell have been calculating our operational carbon footprint since 2007, and since 2020 have been operating on a Net Zero carbon basis by offsetting our total calculated emissions. We will continue to work on this basis and apply the principles and actions that have developed in our Carbon Governance Strategy. This includes a commitment to achieving on-going reductions in our total emissions, with a target of achieving a 50% reduction from our 2019 emissions, by 2030.
2.0 BASELINE EMISSIONS FOOTPRINT
Baseline emissions are a record of the greenhouse gases that have been produced in the past and were produced prior to the introduction of any strategies to reduce emissions. Baseline emissions are the reference point against which emissions reduction can be measured.
BASELINE YEAR: 2007
Additional Details relating to the Baseline Emissions calculations:
Our Baseline Emissions were established in 2007. The methodology for measuring this, and subsequent annual carbon footprint reporting, is in accordance with the Defra guidance for UK businesses.
We normalise our calculations to evaluate our targets on a per person basis so that we can demonstrate environmental improvements without hindering our growth aspirations.
Baseline year emissions:
EMISSIONS
SCOPE 1 & 2 (Energy use)
SCOPE 3
(includes business travel, paper use, waste and water use)
Total Emissions (Total per FTE)
tCO2e
tCO2e
3.0 CURRENT EMISSIONS REPORTING
REPORTING YEAR: 2023
SCOPE 1 & 2 (Energy use)
SCOPE 3 (includes business travel, paper use, waste and water use)
Total Emissions (Total per FTE)
Carbon Offsets
4.0 EMISSIONS REDUCTION TARGETS
In 2010 we developed our first Carbon Governance Strategy to set our long-term targets up to 2020 for carbon performance on our architectural work and studio activities. During 2020 we re-assessed our Carbon Governance Strategy and agreed the following targets for the years up to 2030:
01 Use carbon offsetting to achieve a net zero carbon position for the Practice (this has been actioned since 2020).
02 Reduce net emissions by 50% (from the 2019 total) by 2030.
03 Reduce average energy in studios to 160 kWh/m2.
04 Analyse business miles in private cars by fuel type (diesel/petrol/hybrid/electric)
05 Adopt a policy that all hire cars used will, wherever possible, be at least selfcharging hybrids.
06 Recognise and promote best practices from the Covid-19 lockdown that reduce business travel.
07 Report regional totals in the Footprint Reports to emphasise the benefits of the regional strategy.
08 Reduce paper emissions by 50% (from 2019 levels) by 2030.
Progress against these targets can be seen in the graph below:
4.0 EMISSIONS REDUCTION TARGETS
EX;CLUSIONS AND CAVEATS
Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements. The below exceptions are not included in our Scope 3 emissions, as required by reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard:
• Upstream transportation and distribution is not included and would be a nominal value for office supplies only.
• Waste generated in operations – we monitor this for the offices and exclude it as being negligible.
• Employee commuting – we do not currently include this.
We are considering the inclusion of some of these additional Scope 3 emissions in future reporting. Employee commuting was tracked initially but as Purcell grew in size, this became more challenging to measure, and influence. Currently, we offer a policy which enables staff to work from home two days a week. We also provide shower facilities and lockers in most of our offices to encourage active forms of transport. We will consider how we can reduce emissions from employee commuting in future reporting.
5.0 CARBON REDUCTION PROJECTS
5.1 COMPLETED CARBON REDUCTION INITIATIVES
Since the 2007 baseline analysis of our carbon footprint, the following environmental management measures and projects have been completed:
CERTIFICATIONS:
• We have successfully achieved ISO14001 certification annually since 2008.
• We have submitted applications for SBTi and B-Corp accreditations.
REDUCING ENERGY USE:
• The recent relocation of the York office and the replacement of the boiler in the Canterbury office have contributed to practice’s reduction in energy usage.
LOCK-IN BEST PRACTICE:
Since the enforced studio closures during the pandemic, we have retained a number of best practice initiatives that will help keep our carbon footprint low.
• We have invested in hardware to support remote meetings and continued to review solutions to make virtual meetings effective whilst keeping the open plan nature of many of our studios.
• We have been operating a flexible working policy where staff members are only required to commute to the office three days a week. This has reduced energy use in our studios and reduces carbon emissions related to commuter travel.
OFFSETTING RESIDUAL EMISSIONS FROM OPERATIONS:
• We have been offsetting our international travel since 2012.
• We have been offsetting our total operational carbon footprint since 2020, which for the year of 2023, totalled 204 tCO2e.
5.0 CARBON REDUCTION PROJECTS
THE IMPACT OF OUR WORK:
As professionals working in the built environment and construction sector, we acknowledge that the projects we work on and the buildings we design, have a far greater impact on the environment and the climate emergency, than the individual carbon footprints of our staff, or our studio operations.
As signatories of Heritage Declares and Architects Declare a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency, we are committed to curtailing the negative effects of the construction industry through the work we do. We seek to evaluate all new projects against the aspiration to contribute positively to mitigating climate breakdown and encourage our clients to adopt this approach.
We are also committed to the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge, which aims to ensure all our new build projects are net zero by 2030, and projects in existing buildings are net zero by 2050.
5.2 PROPOSED CARBON REDUCTION INITIATIVES
In addition to the targets set out in our Carbon Governance Strategy which are summarised in section 4.0 of this document, we are implementing a process of measuring and tracking the carbon footprint of our projects, throughout the design stages.
Whilst the offsetting of these emissions is the responsibility of our clients, we see it as our professional duty to ensure our clients are equipped with the right information to help inform their decision making.
6.0 EMISSIONS REDUCTION TARGETS
6.0 DECLARATION AND SIGN OFF
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been completed in accordance with PPN 06/21 and associated guidance and reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans.
Emissions have been reported and recorded in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard and uses the appropriate Government emission conversion factors for greenhouse gas company reporting (with the exceptions listed in Section 4.0).
Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have been reported in accordance with SECR requirements, and the required subset of Scope 3 emissions have been reported in accordance with the published reporting standard for Carbon Reduction Plans and the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard (with the exceptions listed in Section 4.0).
This Carbon Reduction Plan has been reviewed and signed off by the board of directors (or equivalent management body).
August