Skanska USA, one of the world's largest development and construction companies, announced it has co-created the newly formed Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) Task Force on Decarbonization and Carbon Reporting, to address the challenges around reporting and reducing carbon emissions in the construction industry.

Over the coming year, the Task Force will help standardize carbon reporting by developing an industry guidebook and educational resources on decarbonization best practices. The Task Force is part of AGC's climate change initiative, which aims to shape climate change policies that impact the construction industry, while reducing the industry's environmental impact.

Other founding members include Clark, DPR and Ryan Companies, with additional members now including Granite, Kiewit, Mortenson and Turner.

"The AGC Task Force unites some of the biggest construction companies to support the industry's decarbonization efforts," said Myrrh Caplan, national vice president of sustainability at Skanska USA Building and chair of the AGC Task Force on Decarbonization and Carbon Reporting.

"The committee will develop a guidebook to help contractors understand how to calculate and report emissions, and how to set actionable goals as they play an instrumental role in addressing climate change. We look forward to being part of a process that reduces the industry's environmental impact and creates more resilient communities."

The construction industry and the built environment are responsible for nearly 40 percent of global carbon emissions that impact climate change. Contractors are increasingly exploring efforts that reduce their carbon footprint including changes in their operations, adoption of new policies and investments in new technologies. Skanska understands the construction industry's responsibility to take action and has consistently led industry decarbonization and sustainability efforts.

Globally, Skanska aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions along its entire value chain by 2045, with a 70 percent reduction in controlled emissions by 2030. From 2015 to 2022, Skanska achieved a 55 percent reduction of carbon emissions from its own operations (scope 1 and 2). In 2019, Skanska alongside the Carbon Leadership Forum and other partners, helped create the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3 Tool), to calculate and evaluate the embodied carbon within a wide array of building materials. The partnership made the tool "open-source" to democratize data and provide transparency as companies and governments aim to achieve their carbon reduction goals.

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