Modern Building Services

14 MODERN BUILDING SERVICES SEPTEMBER 2022 FEATURE ZERO CARBON BUILDINGS BESA urges industry to get serious about embodied carbon The energy efficiency of buildings and products has improved dramatically over the past 30 years, but to protect the global environment we must also crack the more complex challenge of reducing ‘embodied carbon’, according to the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA). W hile regulations, greater use of renewables, and improved product performance have all contributed to a steady fall in ‘operational’ carbon ‘embodied’ carbon remains a big blot on the global horizon and a major reason why the built environment accounts for more than 40% of total global emissions. Failing to tackle the specific challenge of embodied carbon will make it impossible to achieve the emission reductions needed to keep global warming below the 1.5degC target set by the UN’s Paris Agreement to avert catastrophic climate change, according to BESA. The Association also welcomed the intervention of the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee, which has called for mandatory whole life carbon assessments and priority to be given to retrofitting and reuse of buildings. The Committee chairman, Philip Dunne MP, said: “From homes to offices, retail units to hospitality venues, our buildings have a significant amount of locked-in carbon, which is wasted each time they get knocked down to be rebuilt, a process which produces yet more emissions.” Whole life “Ministers must address this urgently…baseline standards for action need to be established. Mandatory whole life carbon assessments, and targets to crack down on embodied carbon, provide part of the answer. Constructors and developers can then determine which low-carbon materials, such as timber and recycled steel, they can use.” The assessment, which the MPs want to see introduced by the end of next year, would calculate the emissions from the construction, maintenance, and demolition of a building, and from INFORMED THINKING MBS has teamed up with the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) to share the knowledge, policy and thinking of the Association. This month, BESA considers the need for action on air quality.