Carbon CO2 Emissions
The construction industry as a whole accounts for 50% of carbon emission. Traditionally material manufacturing and building operation are considered to have much greater environmental impacts in comparison with the construction activities. This results the focus on construction materials, offsite manufacturing, waste management, household operation and energy usage. However, recent studies show that the environmental impacts of construction onsite activities are significantly underestimated, especially on infrastructure projects.
Unlike in Europe or Northern America, a large portion of the construction work in Asia is still building infrastructures where heavy construction equipment is involved. Even the construction of residential buildings in Hong Kong requires much more heavy equipment compared with any other countries/regions. This shows that studies on carbon performance of construction activities in Asia are more urgent and could bring more benefits.
Meanwhile, Carbon management is becoming a key component in many of the green certification programs in many Asian countries and what once was only a discussion topic of interest has now become a priority for modern construction.
To manage you must first measure - ConstructCO2 is important in providing a simple, practical and systematic approach to measuring project carbon emissions. The ConstructionCo2 aims at reducing the carbon emission of the industry by measuring, mapping, and managing the carbon performance of onsite construction activities. It answers the questions such as: what is the actual carbon emission of the construction activities on your project? What is the share of each construction activity to the emission? How carbon emission can be reduced through re-engineering their design, procurement, logistics and project planning?
Benefits: Clients, contractors and suppliers using ConstructCO2 are identifying quick win actions that reduce carbon, and generate potential savings through travel arrangements and material/supplier procurement, both on the project in question and on future projects.
Finally, how do we manage Carbon in this environment? ConstructCO2 provides the tools to measure and inform which is essential to manage and improve the efficiency of any project.
- Plan the approach and targets for CO2 reduction
- Do management to reduce/ minimize "energy"
- Check measuring and understanding CO2
- Act use results and lessons learnt to set approach and targets
The ConstructionCo2 is a pioneer in intending to manage carbon performance of onsite activities. The project will not only lead to an improved understanding of carbon performance of onsite activities, but also provide an innovative approach to planning and managing onsite activities with consideration of their carbon performance. The ConstructionCo2 is supported by a strong research team which includes the brains from both research institutes and industry experts, and has been successfully implemented in the UK and US.
Vassos Chrysostomou
vassos@ibepartnership.com
+44 (0)7889 641712