gcp are always looking for ways to improve as a business. For years we have analysed the operational energy of our designs, but now we are starting to review our performance as a business by setting up our own carbon strategy which looks at tracking, reducing, and offsetting our carbon emissions. Currently we can track our scope 1 & 2 carbon emissions, however the elephant in the room for design and construction businesses currently is scope 3 emissions and specifically whole life carbon in the buildings we design.
Whole life carbon analysis is currently quite challenging due to the wide range of calculators available, and the level of detail required to accurately measure embodied carbon. Gcp have recently trialed three pieces of software to inform how we can perform embodied carbon assessments in the future. The results from one of these are listed below.
We took Foundation Park Pavilion, Swindon as the test project and ran it through the carbon assessment software to see how much carbon is embodied within the construction. We then ran the same project with a CLT frame rather than traditional construction and 70% GGBS in the concrete mix to see the impact. The conclusion was that using CLT and cement substitutes would have given a 66% decrease in embodied carbon and pushed the design well beyond the RIBA 2030 Challenge standard. [Calculations using FCBStudios carbon assessment tool].
This new form of building analysis can be implemented from Stage 0 and help to inform decisions around construction type, finishes, servicing etc. Moving forward we will be looking to integrate this analysis into our design process to better inform clients and improve the performance of their buildings.
