LIGHTING & CONTROLS
Reducing lighting embodied carbon with circularity. Repeat…
The built environment industry is finally getting serious about embodied carbon, and regulation is a now a possibility. Tim Bowes, the head of lighting application at Whitecroft Lighting, explores the implications of reducing embodied carbon for lighting and M&E, and how Whitecroft is taking a leading role in circularity
Part-Z, it’s fair to say the embodied carbon cat is very much out the bag, and this will give lighting and M&E professionals some decisions to take. Away from Westminster, embodied carbon is definitely on the minds of many of Whitecroft Lighting’s customers, and I’m regularly asked to provide a breakdown of the embodied carbon in our lighting solutions.
So what’s happening?
First of all, some context: embodied carbon, or carbon emitted from the whole life of buildings, is a significant contributor to climate change. When you factor in everything from the
E
mbodied carbon has become something of a hot topic for the built environment in recent months, not least because of the first reading of The Carbon Emissions (Buildings), Part-Z Bill in parliament
in February.
Duncan Baker MP’s proposed bill sought the measurement and reporting of the whole-life carbon emissions of buildings, and set limits on
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carbon emissions in building construction. A ground swell of industry support followed, with the majority of the big contractors backing the bill (you can visit
Part-Z.uk/Industry-Support to find out who said what). But due to politics unrelated to construction, the bill has been put on ice, and a new MP will now need to pick up the embodied carbon baton if the bill is to be revived. Regardless of your opinion on the value of
sourcing and manufacturing of building materials and products, through to the construction process itself - plus the disposal of materials at the end of life, you’re looking at 11% of the total C02 emitted globally each year, according to the World Green Building Council. Another big problem with embodied carbon is that, once it’s emitted, it cannot be retrieved or reduced through improved efficiency, which is in contrast to the day-to-day operational efficiency of a building, which can be optimised over time. Reducing embodied and operational carbon is clearly important to limiting climate change, but to-date, reduction has leaned heavily in the direction of operational carbon – think Part-L and BREEAM.
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26 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER MAY 2022
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