Carbon data

We aim to demonstrate our leadership position with transparent carbon emissions reporting supported by clear internal actions and performance reporting.

Scope

This data covers Willmott Dixon Holdings Ltd, a privately owned construction and interior fit out company which includes Willmott Dixon Construction, Interiors and support functions. This data is for the period 1^st January to 31^st December 2021.

Willmott Dixon Operational Footprint

Our operational footprint includes our scope 1 and scope 2 emissions (see below) and our scope 3 emissions from transport and homeworking.

Scope 1	Site and office gas, site diesel, site hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO)
Scope 1	Business travel from company cars
Scope 2	Emissions from purchased electricity (market-based method)
Scope 3	Travel from grey fleet and commuting
Scope 3	Working from home equipment and heating
Scope 3	Train travel

Willmott Dixon Operational Footprint (Government's Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting [SECR] compliance)

In line with the SECR regulations, we provide data on our operational emissions including the energy that we have consumed but not directly paid for (mainly customer electricity) in the table below.

Scope 1	Site and office gas, site diesel, site HVO
Scope 1	Business travel from company cars
Scope 2	Emissions from purchased electricity (location-based method, including customer procured electricity)
Scope 3	Travel from grey fleet and commuting
Scope 3	Working from home equipment and heating
Scope 3	Train travel
Scope 3	Transmission and Distribution (T&D) losses

Data sources

Carbon data is collected from four main sources:

Billing from suppliers (e.g. electricity companies and diesel suppliers).
Staff mileage returns (as part of business and commute travel expense claims on a monthly basis) and fuel card reports.
Site level data input via a bespoke data collection system, mi|project (e.g. electricity consumption, gas consumption, diesel consumption, sub-contractor diesel consumption).
Purchase order information in our supply chain system.

Methodology

We calculate our carbon footprint using international standards (the Greenhouse Gas protocol and ISO14064) and we categorise our Greenhouse Gas emissions as scope 1, 2 and 3 as described in the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and World Resources Institute (WRI) Greenhouse Gas Protocol Reporting standard. Our carbon footprint is verified by The Carbon Trust, as part of our accreditation to the Carbon Trust Standard, and our carbon and energy data is verified by Bureau Veritas.

We use the operational control approach and opt to include anything that Willmott Dixon pays for under our Scope 1 and 2 emissions (on account of these being the emissions that Willmott Dixon is able to influence and control). Our offices all have operating leases which, under the financial control approach, we would not include in our scope 1 and 2 emissions. For compliance with SECR, we also include data on our operational emissions including the energy that we have consumed but not directly paid for (mainly customer electricity on our construction sites).

Emissions have been calculated as tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO_₂e) using conversion factors listed in the relevant Defra Greenhouse Gas Conversion Factors for Company Reporting for the relevant year. For our footprint, scope 2 emissions were calculated using the market-based methodology, but in accordance with best practice for our compliance with SECR, we have also provided information on these emissions using the location-based method.

Detailed methodology for each element of our scope is provided in the table below.

Scope 1
Site and Office Gas	Gas usage in kWh, from both offices and sites, is recorded via invoices. Usage is converted to CO₂e using the relevant DEFRA conversion factor. Where Willmott Dixon has paid for client or leased assets, gas usage (kWh) is taken from meter readings or, if data is not available, is calculated from billing information.
Site Diesel	Litres of diesel are reported through invoice records provided by mandated fuel providers and converted to CO_₂e using the DEFRA conversion factor for gas oil.
Site HVO	Litres of HVO are reported through invoice records provided by mandated fuel providers and converted to CO_₂e using the DEFRA conversion factor for biodiesel HVO.
Travel from company cars (business only)	Travel from company cars includes two data sources: Fuel card reports provide litres of fuel used and fuel type. This is then converted to CO₂e using the diesel or petrol DEFRA conversion factors, depending on product type. Journeys driven in company car vehicles are recorded using mileage capture and audit software. Miles travelled are converted to kilometres then multiplied by the published carbon emissions for the individual vehicle. Individual vehicle details are provided by the DVLA.
Scope 2
Emissions from purchased electricity - Market-based	Electricity usage from sites and offices, in kWh, is reported using records of paid invoices. Our footprint includes the electricity directly paid for by Willmott Dixon. This is then converted to CO₂e using DEFRA factors. Sources categorised as renewable tariffs are calculated to have zero carbon emissions. Renewable electricity is conservatively deemed to be that procured through our broker where we are provided with suitable paperwork to prove origin. Where Willmott Dixon has paid for client or leased assets, electricity usage (kWh) is taken from meter readings or, if data is not available, is calculated from billing information^[1].
Emissions from purchased electricity - Location-based	Electricity usage from sites and offices, in kWh, is reported using records of paid invoices. Our footprint includes the electricity directly paid for by Willmott Dixon. This is converted to CO₂e emissions using the UK national grid average factor published by DEFRA. This data is provided in accordance with best practice and for compliance with SECR Regulations but is not included in our footprint.
Emissions from electricity used to charge electric and PHEV company cars	Journeys driven in company car vehicles and the fuel type of each vehicle is recorded using mileage capture and audit software. The total miles travelled in fully electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles are converted to CO₂e by multiplying by the DEFRA UK electricity for EVs conversion factors, battery electric vehicles or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, respectively.
Customer procured electricity	This is electricity that is used on our sites but that we do not directly pay for, in kWh. This data is calculated from meter readings entered into our environmental data capture system. This data is provided in accordance with best practice and for compliance with SECR Regulations but is not included in our footprint. The location-based method is used to calculate CO₂e emissions, using the UK national grid average factor published by DEFRA.
Scope 3
Business travel from grey fleet and all commute travel	Journeys driven in grey fleet vehicles, both on business and commute, and company car commute miles are recorded using mileage capture and audit software. Miles travelled are converted to kilometres then multiplied by the published carbon emissions for the individual vehicle. Individual vehicle details are provided by the DVLA.
Emissions from electricity used to charge grey fleet electric vehicles	Journeys driven and the fuel type of each vehicle is recorded using mileage capture and audit software. The total miles travelled in fully electric vehicles are converted to CO₂e by multiplying by the DEFRA UK electricity for EVs conversion factor for battery electric vehicle.
Train travel	Train travel is recorded through the business expenses system. Origin and destination stations are used to calculate kilometres travelled in one journey. If a return journey has been specified, this distance is multiplied by two. The report then uses a series of assumptions based on season tickets to calculate total km. Carbon is then calculated using the total distance and DEFRA conversion factor.
Working from home equipment and heating	Usage of gas and electricity in kWh associated with working from home is calculated using assumptions detailed in the EcoAct^[2] Homeworking emissions whitepaper. It is converted to carbon using DEFRA conversion factors for gas and electricity. Estimates from working from home emissions were only introduced in 2020 when people started to work from home.
Emissions from purchased goods and services	Emissions from purchased goods and services were calculated using a spend based method using Quantis^[3] conversion factors. This is separated into Category A partners (with who we work most closely) and other partners.
Emissions from waste, including wastewater	Waste data in volume (m³) is converted to tonnes using the WRAP conversion factors (2014) for each waste stream and then DEFRA conversion factors are used for each waste stream to convert from tonnes of waste to CO₂e of carbon. For wastewater, it is assumed that all water is supplied by and returned into the mains water system. The volume of water used is converted to carbon using DEFRA factors.
Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Losses	T&D losses for site and office electricity are calculated by multiplying kWh of electricity used by the DEFRA conversion factor for T&D losses. For electric vehicles, miles travelled by EVs and plug-in hybrids are multiplied by the respective DEFRA conversion factors for T&D losses from electricity powered vehicles.
Out of Scope Emissions
Biogenic HVO emissions	Where HVO fuel is used, we have calculated ‘out of scope’ emissions to account for the direct carbon dioxide (CO₂) impact of burning. The emissions are labelled ‘outside of scopes’ because the fuel source itself absorbs an equivalent amount of CO₂ during the growth phase as the amount of CO₂released through combustion. This is calculated by multiplying the total litres of HVO by the DEFRA outside of scope biodiesel HVO conversion factor.

Exclusions

The carbon footprint includes business travel from company vehicles, grey fleet and trains, as well as employee commuting by car and train. Other modes of business travel are excluded from the footprint but account for less than 1% of the footprint. Other modes of business travel include travel by plane, taxi, bus, ferry, tram and tube. Where exact mileage information is not available, miles have been estimated for a number of journeys for each transport type and using analysis of miles per £1 for these trips, mileage assumptions have been applied to each journey type.

Metrics

In accordance with our Science Based Target, we measure absolute carbon in tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (tCO₂e). Using carbon equivalence allows us to include the emissions of other greenhouse gases relative to one unit of CO₂ so that we can capture all relevant emissions in one metric.

We also provide a carbon intensity metric, tCO₂e/£million as this allows comparison across businesses and over time, irrespective of business turnover. It is also a well-established metric for carbon measurement, allowing us to compare our performance to that of other external bodies and benchmarks where applicable.

Reporting

Performance reporting

The source data is automatically analysed by our systems on a monthly basis to provide detailed information on our carbon emissions. This is fed into a Power BI dashboard that allows us to continually monitor against our emission reduction targets and to optimise our understanding of carbon emissions as they occur, so that we can find solutions to problems as they arise. The dashboard provides visibility of carbon performance to all levels of the organisation including our Holdings Sustainability Committee, our Local Company Offices and on a project-by-project basis.

Reporting to our clients

Carbon reporting can also be provided to our clients on a monthly basis as part of our mi|performance tool, which provides bespoke information to our customers, making it simple to understand performance on their projects.

External Reporting

We report on our performance annually as part of our Annual Report and Accounts and Sustainable Development Review. This data is externally verified (see below).

Verification

Annually, we commission a third-party auditor to verify our carbon emissions data prior to publishing our Annual Report and Now or Never Review. Currently, this is carried out by Bureau Veritas.

Our data

Willmott Dixon Operational Energy and Carbon Emissions

	2018 (Baseline)	2019	2020	2021
Willmott Dixon Total Operational Emissions (tCO₂e)^[4]	6,638	6,204	5,406	4,499
Intensity - emissions relative to turnover (tCO₂e/£m)	5.02	4.98	4.54	4.08
Energy Use (directly paid for) (kWh)	Not reported	29,800,766	25,813,221	27,268,192

Willmott Dixon Operational Energy and Carbon Emissions (SECR Compliance)

	2018	2019	2020	2021
Willmott Dixon Total Operational Emissions (SECR Compliance)^[5](tCO₂e)	Not reported	9,176	7,308	6,459
Intensity - emissions relative to turnover (tCO₂e/£m)	Not reported	7.36	6.14	5.86
Energy Use (including customer procured energy) (kWh)	Not reported	35,830,867	29,818,813	31,106,428

Willmott Dixon Total Carbon Footprint 2021

The total carbon footprint for Willmott Dixon in 2021 is shown in the table below.

Source	Emissions (tCO₂e)	Emissions by Scope (tCO₂e)	Emissions by Footprint (tCO₂e)
Scope 1: Site and office gas, site diesel, site HVO	1,895	Total Scope 1 & 2   2,519	Operational Emissions   4,499
Scope 1: Travel from company cars	481
Scope 2: Emissions from purchased electricity ⁽⁶⁾	143
Scope 3: Travel from grey fleet	1,733	Total Scope 3   1,009,722
Scope 3: Train travel	76
Scope 3: Working from home equipment & heating⁽⁷⁾	170
Scope 3: Emissions from purchased goods and services (Category A partners)⁽⁸⁾⁽⁹⁾	749,803		Supply Chain Emissions 1,007,637
Scope 3: Emissions from purchased goods and services (other category partners)⁽⁹⁾	257,537
Scope 3: Emissions from waste including wastewater	297
Scope 3: Transmission and distribution losses	105		Other scope 3 emissions 105
Total Emissions	1,012,241
Outside of scope emissions from HVO fuels⁽¹⁰⁾	311	Not within scope
Scope 2: Emissions from purchased electricity (location-based method & including customer procured electricity)⁽¹¹⁾	1,953	Not within scope

^{[1] All construction sites had meter readings available so this only relates to a small number of shared offices where landlords were responsible for electricity procurement (rather than Willmott Dixon).}

^{[2] https://info.eco-act.com/en/homeworking-emissions-whitepaper-2020}

^{[3] https://quantis-suite.com/Scope-3-Evaluator/}

^{[4] Includes energy directly paid for by Willmott Dixon. Emissions from electricity use the market-based methodology to convert kWh to carbon.}

^{[5] Includes customer procured energy used on our sites. Emissions from electricity use the location-based methodology to convert kWh to carbon and include T&D losses.}

^{[6] Includes energy directly paid for by Willmott Dixon and emissions from electricity use the market-based methodology to convert kWh to carbon.}

^{[7] Estimates from working from home emissions were only introduced in 2020 when people started to work from home.}

^{[8] The footprint from purchased goods and services from category A suppliers makes up at least two thirds of scope 3 emissions and is the focus of the Science Based Target. Emissions from upstream transportation and distribution are included within this figure.}

^{[9] In 2022 the method for calculating emissions from purchased goods and services was reviewed and improvements were made to make this data more accurate.}

^{[10] HVO is a biofuel so “out of scope” emissions have been provided. This takes account of the direct emissions from combustion of the fuel. The emissions are labelled ‘outside of scopes’ because the scope 1 impact of these fuels is reduced since the fuel source itself absorbs CO_₂ when it is grown.}

^{[11] Includes customer procured energy used on our sites. Emissions from electricity use the location -based methodology to convert kWh to carbon. This data is provided in accordance with best practice and for compliance with SECR Regulations it is not included in the footprint because the market-based method was used for footprint calculation.}