Hinkley Point is still a number of years off completion..
Based on UKGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings “A framework definition", a typical Cat A office’s building embodied carbon, after the first year of use, would be 75% of the total carbon, whilst the operational carbon would be around 25%.Although the operational carbon will accumulate overtime, a decarbonised grid will mean that the growth rate will flatten, and after 60 years the embodied carbon will still remain higher than operational carbon, as shown in Figure 2.
This means that the focus and the priority should shift from operational to embodied carbon during the design..Embodied and operational carbon increase in a decarbonised grid scenario.In this context, the request for Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA) has increased notably over the last few years.
The production of WLCA is required by BREEAM and the GLA.In a BREEAM NC 2018 assessment, it is possible to achieve up to 7 credits by doing a WLCA, so for developments that aspire to Excellent or Outstanding ratings the analysis of embodied carbon has become very important.
The GLA requires the preparation of a WLCA pre-planning and at post-construction and requires the analysis of the results both with the current carbon factors and a decarbonised scenario.. Additionally, bodies such as the London Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI), RIBA, GLA and UKGBC, have developed guidance documents on embodied carbon, which include specific targets and roadmaps to zero carbon prior 2050.
Whilst these four bodies have been essential in pushing the agenda for low carbon, there has been some confusion across the industry due to the misalignment of targets and WLCA scopes between them as demonstrated in Figure 3.In another example, onsite sensor cameras were able to detect overnight theft and the captured images were successfully used by the police.
Using IoT in this way also creates a differentiating, reputational advantage for contractors, as these companies are seen to be running very tight, lean, safe and productive operations.This could ultimately enable such contractors to win more business, forcing other players to adopt these types of beneficial practices in order to keep up..
Improving the future of construction.Speculating about where industry progress may lead us across the next decade, Lamont predicts that the industry will gradually come to the realisation that the technology platform itself is not the solution to construction’s problems.
(Editor: Magnetic Sofas)