Feature
Understanding embodied carbon Identifying and calculating the embodied carbon in proposed structural designs is increasingly an area where technology can take the strain, leaving engineers free to take the decisions and actions that will help reduce it, writes Stuart Campbell, business development manager for engineering at Trimble (UK)
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s we edge closer to the 2050 many of the UK’s largest construction With a significant portion of a buildNet Zero deadline and the companies pledging targets around car- ing’s final embodied carbon value often world becomes more environ- bon emissions, including Willmott Dixon, determined as early on in the construcmentally conscious, increas- Kier, Mace and Balfour Beatty. tion sequence as the initial design stage, ing attention is being paid to how the it’s clear that the sooner action is taken, construction industry can build greener. Explaining embodied carbon the better. With that in mind, carbon Embodied carbon may be an important There are many factors that feed into this modelling and assessments can be invalpart of the sustainability puzzle. greener, more sustainable future of con- uable, helping engineers and contractors The current spotlight on construction struction, with embodied carbon being to reduce the level of embodied carbon isn’t without just cause; it’s a shocking just one of them. The embodied carbon of within their structures and, ultimately, statistic that the built environment and a building is defined as the greenhouse build greener. construction currently accounts for gas emissions (GHG) generated from the Of course, in order to design smarter around 40% of global energy-related building’s construction lifecycle. This and greener, you need to have an underCO2 emissions, according to the World can include carbon emissions associated standing of the carbon levels that you are Green Building Council (WGBC). As with all materials, products and systems, dealing with from the outset. By calculatsuch, we are all under pressure to from raw material extraction, manufac- ing the embodied carbon present early on reduce carbon footin the construction prints and improve sequence, engineers sustainability, from and other project Conversations around embodied carbon are becoming manufacturers and can increasingly common, with clients and developers asking stakeholders suppliers to conhave a detailed the right questions and showing a desire to build tractors and engiunderstanding of neers. the level of carbon greener, whether they’re driven by a ‘moral’ change in Already, we have that the proposed mindset or a genuine interest in understanding the seen a number of structure contains. environmental and carbon impact of their building initiatives that aim And thanks to to encourage change advances in digital within the constructechnology, it is also tion industry. For example, 2019 saw UK turing and transportation, the construc- possible to take this further, drilling structural engineering consultancies tion process itself and right through the down deeper, measuring intelligently declare a ‘climate and biodiversity emer- building’s entire lifespan. and providing a live overview of the cargency’. In 2020, the UK government pubEmbodied carbon assessments are not bon contained within a structure’s indilished The Construction Playbook, out- yet a legislative requirement, although vidual components. lining green initiatives for the sector; and that’s not to say there won’t be some form Having access to such detailed data earlier that year, Institution of Civil of regulation or carbon tax in the future. early on can be invaluable, providing the Engineers president Rachel Skinner Either way, conversations around information and, most importantly, the launched her ‘Shaping Zero’ campaign. embodied carbon are becoming increas- time savings necessary to consider, According to RIBA, clients in all sectors ingly common, with clients and develop- assess and evaluate how this carbon figare increasingly commissioning whole life ers asking the right questions and show- ure can be minimised, in order to reduce carbon (WLC) assessments as part of pro- ing a desire to build greener, whether building’s environmental impact. ject requirements, driven by both environ- they’re driven by a ‘moral’ change in mental and economic considerations. We mindset or a genuine interest in under- Design optimisation are also increasingly seeing more contrac- standing the environmental and carbon In many ways, the task of reducing a tors instigate positive change too, with impact of their building. structure’s embodied carbon boils down
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November / December 2021
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