Net zero: why we need to look at whole-life truths

摘要

The carbon debate is often too focused on embodied carbon measurements that incorporate only carbon emitted during the production of materials and the construction process itself, but there is a more holistic alternative that is critical to achieving net zero and moving towards a circular economy. Whole-life carbon analysis measures anticipated impacts over the lifetime of a building or infrastructure asset. It considers not only the extraction of raw materials, the manufacture of construction products, product miles and the construction process, but also takes account of emissions during the operation or use of the asset. Plus, it evaluates how the material is selected, how the asset's design can influence these emissions and what happens at the end of life. Is our industry considering the whole-life carbon impact of assets to inform material specification? Tarmac's latest research, 'Clean construction: unlocking net zero' confirmed that there is a good level of awareness about the importance of taking a whole-life approach, but that this is not always translating into the adoption of this approach.