FOCUS ENERGY MANAGEMENT
OPERATIONAL
PERFORMANCE
Kevin Mcguane, Sector MD, DMA Group explains the di erences between embodied carbon and operational
carbon and how focusing on the latter could reap energy saving benefi ts for the built environment
Climatic events over the past couple
of years have created a renewed
sense of urgency in the race to net zero.
Just prior to the outbreak of the global
COVID-19 pandemic, Australia witnessed
some of the worst bushfires in its history,
while in July 2021 several European
countries su ered devastating levels
of flooding caused by unprecedented
volumes of rainfall. Closer to home, we
recently witnessed the worst storm to hit
UK shores for decades.
These extreme weather events, from
droughts and hurricanes to flooding and
wildfires, are reoccurring with increasing
severity and frequency at a time when Arctic
ice sheets are splintering and rainforests
are shrinking. Indeed, the time for joined up
action between public and private spheres
around the world, is now.
Yet, we have another crisis on our
hands. It was just three months ago when
world leaders met at COP26. Ambitious
commitments were made to help reduce
fossil fuel usage. There was hope. However,
the perils of a warming planet and the
transition to renewable energy risks taking
a back seat and being replaced with energy
security as the world’s largest energy
supplier, Russia, begins war with Ukraine.
This new global crisis may force policymakers
to backtrack on their e orts to decrease
the use of fossil fuels that pump deadly
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Therefore, we need hope to start fighting
back.
THE TWO TYPES OF CARBON
Cutting carbon emissions and creating a
committed net zero society is widely seen
as the best way to mitigate the challenges
posed by climate change.
The UK government has already stated its
mission to reach net zero emissions by 2050,
44 APRIL 2022
and to cut emissions by 78 per cent by 2035,
compared with 1990 levels. This makes it the
first major country to legislate for such a goal.
Carbon emissions can broadly be split into
two major categories.
Embodied carbon translates into all
the carbon dioxide emitted in producing
materials. It is estimated from the energy
used to extract and transport raw materials,
as well as emissions from manufacturing
processes.
Looking at buildings specifically, the
embodied carbon of a construct can include
all the emissions from the construction
materials, the building process, and all the
fixtures and fittings inside. Furthermore, it
also covers emissions from deconstructing
and disposing of components at the end of
its lifetime.
Embodied carbon is an important
barometer through which to strategise and
measure net zero action.
Urbanisation is accelerating across the
globe – by 2050, more than two-thirds of the
world population will live in urban areas,
meaning architects and developers must
prioritise reducing carbon emissions during
the design and construction of new builds.
With embodied carbon playing a more
significant role to the life cycle carbon
emissions associated with a building,
attention has begun to be more focussed on
how di erent construction materials might
a ect both di erent types of carbon and their
emissions.
However, what is o‰ en overlooked is the
environmental footprint of our current
building stock.