The term “embodied carbon” is probably one that most commercial estate agents and surveyors will have only vaguely heard of up until now.
Yet the next few years could see it become a major issue for the property industry. Anyone involved in commercial property will need to know what it is, and its impact on the sustainability credentials of a building (which ultimately could affect its value).
This is because the UK is legally obliged to reduce CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050, against a 1990 baseline. The operation of all UK buildings accounts for more than 40% of these emissions. But embodied carbon accounts for a further 10% of emissions based on present building trends and therefore cannot be ignored if the UK is to achieve what are challenging carbon reduction targets.
What is embodied carbon? It is carbon emitted during the manufacture, transport and construction of building materials, together with end-of-life emissions. It is the total lifecycle carbon less the operational carbon impact. Typically this can account for 40% to 70% of the lifetime total carbon emissions depending on building type.
These embodied carbon emissions not only account for about 10% of all emissions, but those emissions are all up-front. The environmental impact of embodied emissions is greater than operational emissions, which are emitted gradually and linked to the carbon intensity of the energy supply chain which is (slowly) being decarbonised.
The importance of embodied carbon is not yet reflected in legislation. From 2016 it is proposed that developers construct zero-carbon homes, with non-domestic buildings following in 2019. If this is not economically feasible at a building level then solutions are available to reduce carbon emissions either on or off-site.
At present, these solutions and carbon calculations only take into consideration emissions from the operation of a building. They exclude embodied carbon.
In addition to the zero-carbon trajectory, government has introduced legislation designed to improve energy efficiency, including the Energy Act 2011. This mandates a minimum level of energy efficiency from 1 April 2018.
Research by CO2 Estates shows industry will need to spend £29bn on energy conservation measures to meet these new standards, resulting in a saving of almost 18m tonnes of CO2 a year from the operation of buildings. However, by the time we factor in increases to emissions as a result of embodied carbon, we do not know what the impact of this spend will be.
Consider the urgency involved in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Put that alongside the rate of global building and it is simply not possible to ignore the issue of embodied carbon and achieve wider emission reduction targets.
An industry taskforce of practitioners, academics and developers has recommended government includes embodied carbon as an allowable solution to developers .
Embedding Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), the measurement of embodied carbon and wider environmental effects into the design process has become easier and more cost effective with the introduction of new software such as the Innovate UK (Technology Strategy Board)-funded IMPACT toolset, and open databases; removing many of the reasons given for the lack of LCA activity. Undertaking an LCA to minimise embodied CO2 can improve sustainability ratings such as BREEAM and LEED, which are increasingly a prerequisite for prime buildings and corporate occupiers.
If buildings are to become “zero-carbon” then embodied emissions is the next logical area on which government should start legislating.
From a property owner’s perspective, low carbon buildings are increasingly seen as being more resilient than their less sustainable counterparts: the risk of obsolescence is reduced and the opportunity of securing or retaining stronger yielding covenants is increased.
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