The Construction Innovation Hub is interested in how we can use data more effectively, and how it can be interoperable, reused in different ways by different parties, and throughout the life of an asset.
The built environment contributes to around 40% of the UK's total carbon footprint.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.Unfortunately, while we already have the ability to use IoT successfully to gather substantial amounts of this type of useful information, investment for this type of work isn’t necessarily present at the moment.
Currently, fund managers are focusing more on internal building technology.This results from a desire to achieve a better return on investment, and a focus on short-term impact over long-term benefits.
While this type of technology might seem more exciting in some respects, it isn’t necessarily as truly valuable as the data sets we could be unlocking from construction if we approached things differently and looked at other ways of using construction technology to consistently gather beneficial information from our construction sites.asBuilt’s platform Vault presents a good example of how powerful things become when we can actually visualise what’s happening.. IoT can also be helpful for construction site managers, enabling them to easily track and keep record of information which might ultimately save them time or produce other benefits.
(Editor: Electric Tools)