Carbon dioxide emissions have for some time assumed centre stage in the fight against global warming. This is because CO2 is the dominant gas released by our activities that exacerbates global warming.
Most sustainability regulations focus on the reduction of CO2 emissions, and on the operation, rather than on the formation of the building.
This approach, currently emphasised by Part L of the Building Regulations, adheres to the perception that more energy is consumed by running assets than in constructing them. In contrast, when cost is considered, attention is generally focused on capital, rather than life-cycle, costs.
In the same way that operating and maintenance costs need detailed consideration, it is important that both the day-one carbon impact of a project and the effects of maintenance, refurbishment, and even disposal, should be understood and mitigated.While discounting is a standard technique for calculating future financial burdens and reducing present values, this approach is inappropriate for estimating the environmental liabilities we will leave for future generations.
This means environmental burdens such as future refurbishment should be more significant liabilities in a lifecycle analysis than they are in a whole life cost analysis.
Davis Langdon has developed an approach to measuring embodied carbon in construction. This article sets out the background to the initiative, the importance of embodied carbon and how it is assessed.We illustrate how embodied carbon impacts are calculated and use a case study to demonstrate opportunities to mitigate embodied carbon.
