Interface are driving embodied carbon reduction with the development of our Embodied Carbon Lab. This analysis tool allows the rapid measurement of embodied carbon in facades during design development.
The embodied carbon of a building currently makes up between 35% and 51% of the carbon produced in its lifetime. This percentage is only going to increase with the decarbonisation of national grids around the world.
Our new Facade Embodied Carbon Lab is aligned with the LETI guidance and currently allows quick comparison of embodied carbon for A1-A3 (raw materials supply/transport/manufacturing).
It consists of four key items:
- An EPD-backed embodied carbon facade materials database.
- A facade materials analysis tool that allows the quick determination of the primary material volumes for each facade type.
- A facade bay assessment tool that links the volumes to the database in three scenarios – Standard, Enhanced and Best – and identifies where in each scenario reductions can be made.
- A whole facade assessment tool that highlights which facade types have the greatest opportunity for project embodied carbon reduction and allows live adjustment to clearly see the impact of changes made.
We have now successfully applied this to a live project during Stage 2, pre-planning, when the low-carbon strategies can make the largest impact. This assessment was carried out as the design developed and gave fast responses to the designers allowing them to take on board the information as part of the design development process.
We are currently developing a whole facade materials assessment tool which will allow the building-wide review of each primary material, giving further information on where to focus embodied carbon reduction.
The integration with our Embodied Carbon Transport Tool to include LETI A4-A5 will then follow, which will enhance its use during Stage 4 and as part of the subcontractor/supplier selection process.
This tool is an exciting addition to our Tools for Change developed to empower our clients and the construction industry to make the changes needed.