Climate change is real, and something we cannot avoid. In recent times, severe weather conditions and regular news coverage across the globe have further cemented the issues we are facing. As a result, we must question, are we doing enough to mitigate these effects or could, and should, we be doing more?
Buildings account for 17% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the UK and 39% globally, and the buzz words around the industry, and indeed the Country, and further afield has been ‘Net Zero’. What this means in simple terms in the construction industry is net zero in operation, i.e., all emissions produced from the operation of a building via the heating, lighting, cooling etc are mitigated or offset by systems and activities that absorb emission, such as the planting of trees, or using fuels that do not produce emissions, such as, renewable energy, wind, solar etc.
Over the past few years, the regulations pertaining to energy and carbon within buildings have been ever improving to the extent that there are constantly increasing requirements for the reduction of energy and carbon and in some cases, there is a requirement for ‘Net Zero’, as in the London Plan.
It is certainly true that there are different definitions of ‘Net Zero’ depending on who you talk to, but there is no doubt that the term and the general idea of net zero is firmly implanted within the industry and all those involved with buildings. The UK has a binding agreement to achieve Net Zero in 2050 and many organisations, both public and private, have declared climate emergencies and set their own net zero target. In many cases the practical implementation of this may not be known, but at least the idea of net zero is becoming embedded within organisations!
This is all well and good, the raising of the climate problem and the growing acceptance and action that is taking place is a success story in itself. However, GHG emissions come from other aspects within the construction industry (and a fair few outside the industry, but are not considered here), the extraction and production of construction materials for a start. The question then becomes:
‘How much GHG emissions are we actually saving?’
At present it is difficult to answer this question, as while we can now say something on the savings through the operation of buildings, something that is ongoing and will continue for some time to come, what can we say about the other emissions - the embodied carbon within materials. Furthermore, what happens to that embodied carbon through the life of the products and materials, where does it end up? Can some or all of the emissions be reclaimed, through reuse, recycling etc? If a material or product is sent to landfill at the end of its life, then another may be needed and the embodied carbon for the process of extraction and production of the new product is added to the emissions.
The whole process from cradle to grave, including the extraction, production, in use operation, decommissioning and reuse/recycling/disposal is called Whole Life Carbon (WLC) and there are a number of organisations that have created process maps and definitions for this (see list at the end).
At present, we can say very little about the embodied and Whole Life Carbon of the materials and products we use. Currently little has been done to measure the effects of the various processes involved, however, there are ripples of embodied and WLC within the industry.
Over the past few years certain regulations have been updated to incorporate WLC with the London Plan requiring measurement at various stages of design for certain developments. There are also organisations that are providing guidance on WLC and potential methods for measuring the embodied carbon of materials and products, including LETI, RICS, RIBA, CIBSE and certain manufacturers have started creating their own EPDs (Environmental Product Declaration) that consider the emissions as well as other environmental aspects of their products.
Taking a phased approach to GHG emissions within construction has probably been the right way to implement an emissions strategy to hit the UK, and global, targets. The whole issue of emissions and their measurement is complex, the general resistance to change is real, not just within the industry, and Net Zero in operation is probably a more realistic first target to tackle.
But Net Zero is just the first phase!
Net zero is embedded within the industry, meaning the priority needs to move on to the other aspects of GHG emissions and how to tackle those. This will allow for a more accurate measurement to confirm a REAL reduction in emissions to ensure that they are in line with the Science Based Targets (see SBTI), that keep the global temperature rise to below 1.5oC/2.0oC to reduce the prospect of further and worsening climate change.
Progress has been made towards reducing GHG emissions within the construction industry to help mitigate against climate change, but more is needed. The scale of the issue should not be underestimated, nor should the impact of the embodied and whole life carbon emissions that are currently only roughly estimated. There is a need to measure and quantify the impact of emission across the whole life of the materials we use in construction as well as the operation of our buildings, and the time to do this
NOW!
Note: GHG emissions are a combination of emissions from a number of gases that cause global warming/climate change, this is quite often reduced to carbon emissions or carbon equivalent, so carbon is sometimes used within the text above, as some measures and actions have been named for carbon, i.e. embodied carbon.
For more information about our sustainability services, click here.