This is the first in a series of blogs that highlights work to improve air quality in London. Here Daniel Marsh from King’s College London tells us about the London Low Emission Construction Partnership…
Here at King’s College, we’re involved in a project to reduce emissions from the construction industry in London. Our research shows that around ten per cent of emissions come from this sector. That’s why we set up the London Low Emission Partnership project. It is funded by the Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) through the Air Quality Fund.
Through the project, we’re working with 12 London boroughs, as well as industry partners from across the construction sector and low emission technology providers. More partners are joining all the time, which means there’s a constant flow of new ideas and help with air quality trials.
In September 2015, the Mayor introduced new emission standards for construction plant. This includes a low emission zone for non-road mobile machinery to reduce pollution from the construction industry.
Through the partnership we will improve air quality in London through:
REDUCTION – We want to reduce emissions at construction sites. We’ll do this by testing out new technology with developers and contractors and seeing what works.
OUTREACH – We want the construction industry to be more aware of its impact on local air quality –individually through the emissions abatement programme and via special events.
SUPPORT FOR ENFORCEMENT – We’ve set up a helpdesk to offer support environmental health and planning officers in the London boroughs involved in planning and compliance. This supports the Mayor’s non-road mobile machinery (NRMM) register at: nrmm.london
We want to help the many people who live or work near construction sites to benefit from cleaner air. We’ve already funded a range of measures that have helped reduce emissions in Camden, Islington, Wandsworth and Lambeth. These include dust suppressants, using Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF’s) or fuel additives for NRMM and installing smart generators. The latter technology stores power when the generator’s running so it can be switched off during low demand periods, such as overnight.
We’ve also developed a website for the construction industry. It has information on how it affects air pollution and how to reduce these impacts.