Environment

Enhancing environmental
performance.

We’re focused on developing processes to minimize waste, GHG emissions, and other environmental impacts. Aecon works closely with clients to meet ambitious standards of environmental performance. Across our projects and operations, we use advanced equipment and carefully developed processes to minimize waste, GHG emissions and other environmental impacts.

Our GHG Targets

Aecon continues to focus on achieving its GHG emissions reduction goals, including a 30% reduction in direct CO₂ emissions on an intensity basis (scopes 1 and 2) by 2030 as compared to 2020 and net zero (scopes 1, 2 and 3) by 2050.

Type of Targets

Aecon has chosen to set intensity-based targets. An intensity-based target is relative to economic output, for instance, tonnes of CO₂ per million dollars of revenue. We are in a dynamic business environment where the composition of our business fluctuates year-to-year and intensity-based targets will enable us to provide consistent, comparable, and meaningful reporting.

How we set the targets

In 2019, Aecon published a comprehensive inventory in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. This data enables us to make better energy decisions, set targets, and identify promising areas for emissions reduction efforts. This inventory included emissions associated with our corporate activities (regional headquarters, fleet vehicles and business air travel). Since then, we expanded our GHG inventory to include our construction projects and production facilities. The insight we now have into our direct emissions from all sources, corporate and operational, enabled us to set meaningful targets and manage and improve the activities that impact climate change the most.

Aecon's GHG Inventory

Our inventory is prepared by an independent third-party consultant in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. It includes corporate and construction project activities over which we have direct and indirect operational control:

Scope 1: Emissions generated directly from our operations, including the operation of vehicles and equipment at our project sites and heating at Aecon’s four regional headquarters.

Scope 2: Emissions indirectly associated with electricity consumption at our offices and project sites.

Scope 3: Emissions indirectly associated with our corporate business activities and construction materials (steel, concrete and bitumen).

Acting on the Evidence

Many of our initiatives, such as fleet-usage optimization and the pilot testing of electric, solar and biodiesel-fuelled construction equipment, focus on key opportunities to improve our performance as we work to meet our targets. In 2022, we increased the granularity and coverage of our GHG inventory to allow us to better identify reduction opportunities. Aecon is now able to track project-level GHG emissions over time for our major projects as well as the uptake of biodiesel consumption, a near-term strategy for reducing fleet emissions. We also continued the rollout of our fleet telematics program which will allow us to quantify performance improvements more precisely.

Environmental Management

We increasingly work with clients and partners to align our environmental management practices to the Envision framework – an increasingly important standard to guide performance in sustainable construction.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge project was awarded the Envision Platinum award in 2021. The award is the highest distinction granted by the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure.

The reconstruction of the 2nd Concession in Ontario’s York Region earned an Envision Bronze award, becoming one of the first infrastructure projects in Canada to be recognized under the framework.

Aecon is committed to complying with all regulatory requirements, minimizing environmental impacts from our activities, and preventing pollution across the jurisdictions in which we operate.

We’re focused on:

Continual improvement of the Aecon Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Management System.
Mitigating adverse environmental impacts from our projects with a particular focus on impacts associated with Aecon's significant environmental aspects: spills, waste management, soil management, air quality and emissions management, water quality and effluent management, terrestrial and aquatic wildlife and habitat management, erosion, sediment and surface water control, noise and vibration, and archaeology and cultural heritage management.
Understanding and reducing our potential contributions to climate change and assessing our climate change risks.

Aecon’s environmental commitments are defined in our overarching Environmental Policy, which was last updated in January 2023. These commitments are managed and implemented under Aecon’s Environment, Health and Safety Management System, which has been developed in accordance with ISO 45001:2018 and 14001:2015 requirements under a continuous improvement model. Within this management system, Aecon has identified nine significant environmental aspects where impacts to the environment could occur from one of our activities:

Spill Management & Reporting

Waste Management

Soil Management

Terrestrial & Aquatic Wildlife & Habitat Protection

Water Quality & Effluent Management

Air Quality & Emissions Management

Erosion, Sediment & Surface Water Control

Archaeology & Cultural Heritage Management

Noise & Vibration Management

For each of these aspects, Aecon has developed detailed standards, instructions, tools and best management practices to reduce or eliminate impacts, ensure compliance with environmental requirements, and to support the organization’s sustainability goals.

Explore Health and Safety

How we will report progress

We will be reporting our progress on the reduction targets in our annual sustainability reports.

Feedback

Aecon welcomes all feedback and innovative ideas on our sustainability initiatives and progress. Send us a message at sustainability@aecon.com.

Contact our Sustainability Team

Prabh Banga
Vice President, Sustainability
(416) 297-2600
Email