Green Skills TrainingOnline Training Module
OBR Construction — Sustainability & Environmental Module
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The UK construction industry is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, waste generation, and resource consumption. Green skills — the knowledge, practical abilities, and behaviours that help individuals carry out their work in a way that reduces environmental impact — are increasingly essential for every worker on site, not just environmental specialists.
Clients, local authorities, and government organisations are demanding higher environmental performance. Workers with green skills help OBR Construction win future contracts, reduce costs, comply with legislation, and contribute to the UK's Net Zero by 2050 commitment.
Green skills are the knowledge, practical abilities, and behaviours that help individuals carry out their work in a way that reduces environmental impact and supports sustainable development.
The UK construction industry is changing rapidly due to:
Green skills are not only required by environmental specialists. Every person working on a construction project can contribute through their daily activities — from how they handle waste to how they operate plant.
Construction activities have significant impacts on the environment throughout the lifecycle of a project. Understanding these impacts is the first step to reducing them.
CO₂ is released through fuel used by plant and machinery, transportation of materials, manufacturing of construction products, and energy consumed in site compounds. The construction sector is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions globally.
Construction and demolition activities generate large quantities of waste including timber, plasterboard, packaging, metals, concrete, and plastic. Poor planning often results in surplus materials being discarded.
Construction uses large amounts of aggregates, cement, water, timber, and metals. Many of these resources are finite and require significant energy to extract and process.
Construction sites can contribute to air pollution from dust, water pollution from fuel spills, noise pollution affecting local communities, and soil contamination from hazardous materials.
Net Zero refers to achieving a balance between greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere and those removed from it. The UK has committed to achieving Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050, and the construction industry plays a major role in helping achieve this target.
Common carbon sources on OBR Construction sites:
What you can do to reduce carbon on site:
Leaving machinery running unnecessarily wastes fuel and produces emissions. Turn engines off when equipment is not being used. A single machine left idling during breaks can consume several litres of fuel per day.
Plan deliveries properly to avoid unnecessary transport journeys. Combining deliveries and planning routes reduces both carbon emissions and cost.
Modern machinery often uses less fuel and produces fewer emissions. Report poorly maintained or inefficient plant to your supervisor.
Where available, specify or request recycled aggregates, lower-carbon concrete mixes, and sustainably sourced timber.
Waste costs money and harms the environment. Reducing waste is one of the easiest ways to improve sustainability performance on site. The Waste Hierarchy provides a framework for managing waste effectively — always work as high up the hierarchy as possible:
Avoid creating waste in the first place — accurate ordering, better storage, improved planning.
Use fewer materials — cut accurately, minimise packaging waste.
Use materials multiple times — temporary fencing, formwork systems, reusable protection boards.
Convert waste into new products — metals, cardboard, plastics, concrete.
Generate value from waste — energy recovery facilities.
Landfill should always be the last option. It is the most costly and most damaging.
Everyday site practices have a direct impact on environmental performance. Each of these areas is something every operative can contribute to.
Environmental management is not solely the responsibility of managers or environmental advisors. Every worker contributes to environmental performance on site.
Answer all 10 questions. You must score 80% or above (8/10) to pass and receive your certificate.