Skanska has launched a new Green Fund to help the construction industry invest in cost-saving green solutions and initiatives, living by its commitment to energy conservation and carbon reduction.
The fund is a joint venture between Skanska, the greenest company in the UK, and CO2Sense, the not-for-profit, low-carbon expert company that helps organisations to improve their environmental performance.
Following an initial injection of cash the Green Fund ‘pot’ will then grow year-on-year as it receives payback from successful green initiatives, enabling it to provide even more investment for future ideas.
Skanska’s project and bid teams can apply for seed funding of up to £25,000 from the Green Fund to invest in environmental solutions that are attractive to current or new clients.
Potential ideas can include any innovative product, technology, service or process that will reduce carbon, use less energy, water and raw materials, or produce less waste.
Cecilia Fasth, Executive Vice President at Skanska UK, said: “Green solutions often need investment to get them off the ground, producing cost savings over time. This has historically been the stumbling block to many good ideas not being implemented.
“Skanska’s new Green Fund will provide projects and bid teams with the seed capital to invest in green solutions that are attractive to clients, provide a return on investment and can be applied to the wider business and construction industry.”
Joanne Pollard, CEO of CO2Sense said, “We’re delighted to team up with Skanska to offer this valuable seed capital. This initiative will act as a catalyst to help construction projects to enjoy the strong investment returns that low-carbon initiatives often deliver.”
Skanska is now encouraging its project and bid teams to download application forms from an intranet page to provide a brief overview of the initiatives being proposed.
A ‘Green Steering Committee’ made up of senior management will review the applications and invite successful teams to Dragon’s Den-style presentations to discuss their ideas further.
The new Green Fund is one of four initiatives Skanska has launched as part of its annual Environment Week, which starts on Monday 11 June 2012. Others include:
- The green retrofit of Skanska’s head office, in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire
- An online ‘Site Swap Shop’, to help reduce the waste of spare materials
- The launch of a supply chain green solutions award (third year running)