CARBON MEASUREMENT
immediate and the other is long-term.” Te Palace Framework has
some limitations. For example, it is not as granular as an LCA (life cycle analysis) or EPD. Yet it provides a detailed starting point. It is a symptom of – and a catalyst for – the growing, industry-wide focus on whole- life carbon, including embodied emissions rather than just operational energy use.
THE BENCHMARKING BATTLE
TM65 serves well as a benchmark for the construction industry because items such as bricks or wiring use relatively few different materials. A combi oven, however, has hundreds of components and materials. Consequently, measurement remains a challenge in foodservice. “After 2022, more project
requests followed,” says Luke Slater, technical and policy director for the UK’s Foodservice Equipment Association (FEA). “Te industry was not ready to provide EPDs, so turned to a construction-ready methodology, TM65, to look at embodied carbon. It is great for bricks, glass, aluminium and so on, but it is flawed in terms of its application to catering equipment. It served its purpose initially and more manufacturers got on board, but it does not have traction out of choice, it has been forced upon it.” Manufacturers face many
challenges in providing consistent product-level carbon data, but a recent FEA survey shows that more are getting on
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board with the measurement process. It found that only 5% have assessed their entire product range in terms of carbon footprint; 40% have covered part of their range; and 35% are taking action though nothing is complete. Worryingly, 20% have no intention to do anything. “At the moment, nothing
is mandatory, but it may be coming, although the extent to which this will be enforceable to our industry is very fluid,” says Slater. “What we see is a refreshing change from the negativity there has been around carbon reporting, and our research shows that hospitality businesses do really care about being sustainable. Speaking on behalf of the industry, the FEA says we should look at the total amount of carbon associated with a product’s life, if we are to truly provide those operators interested in sustainability with a meaningful figure. Embodied carbon is part of that, but operational carbon is a bigger component.” Some manufacturers, among
The CITIGROUP building in London’s Canary Wharf was one of the forerunners on embodied carbon
them German company MKN, believe a global standard is required to really push progress. Te company has embraced both embodied and operational carbon measurement. It provides a stainless steel option for its appliances that produces lower carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions in production, and a connected kitchen solution to live-measure power consumption. “Te most important thing
is to create a common standard within the industry,” says Wayne Bennett, MKN’s regional vice president of sales and marketing for the UK and Ireland. “Te top 20% of the market know about embodied carbon – the big hotels and corporates know it will hit them in the pocket. Many more consultants are asking for data now, but there is a misconception about what data is required.” “People have latched onto
TM65 as the solution, but it is the last resort not the first step,” he adds. “We’ve adopted it as the standard, but it is just a tool to get you into the system. Don’t rush out and spend money on TM65 because it is an overly simplistic system.”
Understanding what a global standard might look like is problematic. “For manufacturers, creating
many different standards has a big cost implication,” explains Bennet. “People talk about TM65 as the savior, but it isn’t. We need to get into more detail. Embodied carbon serves the construction industry, but we need to look at operational
“What we see is a refreshing change from the negativity there has been around carbon reporting and research shows that the hospitality sector does care”
carbon to drive the market towards quality products that will last.”
A DELICATE BALANCE TM65 primarily measures embodied carbon and doesn’t provide guidance on operational energy use, which often accounts for more than 85% of a product’s total lifetime carbon footprint, particularly for energy-intensive equipment. “Te topic has come on in leaps and bounds and there has been a sea change in terms of focus,” says energy reduction consultant Dr. Sam Mudie FCSI, director at Hospitality Energy Saving & Sustainability. “Tere has been a lot of ruffling of feathers driving people toward embodied carbon and there is the perception of progress in terms of measurement, though TM65 is not bespoke to catering.” Mudie believes the
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principles underlying TM65 should remain as the basis for comparison between foodservice equipment and other aspects of building services, and urges manufacturers to output their data in a consistent format to
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