Data on embodied and operational carbon can help bring stakeholders together to drive carbon reduction throughout a building’s entire life cycle, writes Hedley Jones, Partner and Head of ESG, Refurbishment & Development at Workman, in BE News.

As the force of headwinds increase against net zero and ESG initiatives, it’s more important than ever that asset managers and investors are armed with tangible and quantifiable results to prove the business benefits of carbon-saving schemes.

With the focus shifting back to cost, it’s not always obvious to all stakeholders that what’s good for the environment can very often also prove to be positive commercially, so having organisation or building-specific data to show how to make carbon reduction tangible and quantifiable across the whole life of a building, from construction forwards, is a total gamechanger.

One way to achieve this – from the very outset of a development – is to integrate whole life carbon assessment into the design and planning stages of a scheme to effectively reduce carbon emissions and drive sustainable building practices. By conducting these assessments early, project teams can make informed decisions that significantly impact a building’s environmental footprint. The critical advantage lies in early intervention.

Currently, many whole life carbon assessments are performed too late, after key decisions have already been made. This reactive approach limits the potential for meaningful carbon reduction. Instead, assessments should ideally be conducted during the initial design and planning phases, allowing teams to explore multiple options and make carbon-conscious choices before construction begins.

By establishing carbon targets in the project brief, and then performing optioneering studies, teams can quantify and compare different design approaches. This methodology enables strategic decision-making that considers carbon impact alongside traditional cost and performance metrics.

Solid data and measurement is key

The financial argument is often compelling. While there may be higher initial costs for low-carbon materials, these can be offset by long-term savings. For instance, investing in higher-quality materials with longer lifespans can reduce replacement frequency and overall carbon emissions throughout the building’s lifecycle.

Whole-life carbon assessments can quantify this trade-off, creating the commercial case for effective carbon reduction. Ultimately, whole life carbon assessment is not just an environmental imperative but a strategic approach to building design that balances economic and ecological considerations. By shifting the focus to early-stage measurement and intervention, we can create more sustainable, efficient, and responsible built environments.

Measurement is the cornerstone of meaningful change – and cutting carbon throughout the 60-year lifecycle of a building, while allowing it to remain healthy and profitable, is the ultimate goal.

Using rigourous data to track and understand sustainability performance means that preconceived arguments against investment in ESG initiatives often fall down. And this continues once the building is up and running, with data around operational energy performance helping occupiers hit their own targets.

There has been a definite uptick in demand for more transparent information regarding operational data, and this is where tech like intelligent building systems can help, delivering both carbon-reduction and sound business goals. It’s been an easy decision for numerous investors, for whom smart tech to optimise buildings is becoming a must-have – especially if they are to attract occupiers striving towards their own net zero goals and practical carbon reduction.

Across the 12.4 million sq. ft of real estate where IBOS is now installed, average reductions in energy consumption of 20-40% in year one – and a cumulative saving of £8.2m on energy bills – have been recorded. The system is significantly reducing carbon by optimising energy consumption within buildings, analysing data and automating systems for maximum efficiency. The antithesis of greenwashing, it delivers tangible action for real measurable results that are challenging for any CFO to deny – ticking both carbon and energy reduction boxes.

Making carbon reduction quantifiable – throughout the whole life cycle of a building – can align all stakeholders on the net zero journey. And while there may be pushback due to fear of change, resistance from stakeholders can often be successfully met with a collaborative approach to find a way forward – usually with data at its core.

By Hedley Jones, Partner and Head of ESG Refurbishment and Development

This article originally appeared in BE News.

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