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Shikha Bhardwaj from Hawkins/Brown says understanding whole life carbon is no longer a choice; it’s essential knowledge for architects on every project. She explains the standards which are emerging to embed carbon measurement into the industry
W
e are all familiar with counting the calories of what we consume in order to live a healthy life. In a
similar way, to improve our planet’s health we need to be mindful about the number of resources we consume, the quantity of emissions we generate, and the other impacts. This is key if we are serious about tackling the climate emergency through urgent action before 2030.
Why is understanding whole life carbon essential? Hopefully, it is common knowledge by now that the built environment is contributing to 39% of the global emissions that are warming our planet, out of which 11% is from materials (based on UN data). To minimise those emissions, we need to understand the contribution of each life cycle stage, including end of life, and particularly of upfront embodied carbon (which is divided into modules A0-A5). A well-structured whole life carbon analysis process, integrated into the design process, would help designers to understand the embodied and operational carbon emissions they are creating, and to work to minimise them from the early design stages.
Current industry information about whole life carbon There is a plethora of information available, which at times can be overwhelming! The key is to break it down and understand what is mandatory and regulatory and what is for guidance. Firstly, there are International ISO and PAS standards governing how to measure and manage carbon emissions. Then there is BS 15978 that details the life cycle stages used to do a whole life cycle assessment (WLCA), and BS BS15804 that governs how Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are produced consistently. The RICS Whole Life Carbon Assessment for the Built Environment Standard 2023 translates this into the pragmatics of how to produce the
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK Photo by Robert Bye on Unsplash
While it is well established that measuring and reporting whole life carbon is essential for emission reductions, it is still not a mandatory requirement within the UK Building Regulations
calculation and report it consistently for buildings and infrastructure projects. Alongside this, there is a lot of industry guidance including the LETI Embodied Carbon Primer, IStructE, RIBA, CWCT, CIBSE TM65 and, soon to be released from the UKGBC, the UK Net Zero Building Standard. It is important to realise
this guidance does not replace the RICS standard, it all amplifies the information in that document for a specific audience. There can be mandatory project requirements from certifications such as BREEAM, but it is important to note these calculations do not currently follow the full RICS standard scope. Increasingly, WLCA is mandated by
ADF JANUARY 2024
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