Leading construction and engineering firm J. Murphy & Sons Limited has won a top environmental award for massively beating its target of ten per cent reductions in carbon emissions.

Murphy won a gold award in the carbon reduction category of the 2015 Green Apple Awards for environmental best practice. The awards are presented by the Green Organisation to businesses across a range of sectors in recognition of outstanding environmental achievement.

Murphy had set a target to achieve a 10% reduction in carbon emissions across its UK business by the end of 2014. The firm achieved a 22% reduction following a variety of initiatives focusing on fuel and electricity emissions. These included fitting 1,900 commercial vehicles with trackers to monitor driver performance and ensure no vehicles could travel over 70mph, investing in electric and hybrid vehicles, and running driver awareness campaigns to encourage energy-efficient driving.

The company also invested in 240 eco-cabins for site accommodation, which are approximately 30% more energy efficient than traditional alternatives and upgraded plant and equipment. This included 94% more efficient lighting towers and hybrid power pods, which optimise generator efficiency. The plant was upgraded to new stage 3B diesel engines to deliver the lowest particulate emissions of any plant currently available. Seven electric vehicles and 27 hybrid vehicles were also added to the Murphy fleet at a number of offices.

Shane Longworth, group environmental advisor at Murphy said:

“As a business we strive to create a sustainable future and we have developed a sustainability roadmap which provides us with a framework to meet that goal. This gold award is a fantastic validation of the major achievements we have made recently and we continue to invest in reducing carbon across our business.”

By involving a large number of Murphy employees the major carbon emissions reduction project also helped raise awareness across the company of the importance of measuring CO2 emissions and the direct link between carbon reduction and cost savings. The construction company also set up a sustainability working group to champion the activities. The company directly employs more than 4,000 engineers, professional managers and skilled operatives.

 The project had many other positive outcomes including Murphy being named on the CDP Supplier Climate Performance Leadership Index 2014.

J. Murphy & Sons Limited is a leading global, multi-disciplined engineering and construction company founded in 1951, with a turnover of £780 million. With specialist capabilities such as pipelines, process, marine, tunnelling and piling, the company invests heavily in its substantial holding of plant, equipment and facilities.