Due to its more efficient envelope performance, a Passivhaus building needs a small heating system, and due to its reduced energy demand, it requires a smaller PV array.
These ambitions, translated to the built environment, can only be achieved via the implementation of measures to reduce operational and embodied carbon of new buildings, upgrading existing buildings, the use of ambitious policies and crucially via a decarbonised grid..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.By that point, we’ve often begun discussing other, internal elements, such as technology related to the temperature of the building..
Ultimately, this means that many important uses for construction technology are being missed.For example, we should be tracking how much movement there was in a column as it was being pulled in, and the bending.
We need to be asking questions about how the concrete cured.This type of work has an important impact in terms of predictive maintenance.