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Construction Carbon has launched a free-to-access website application Construction Carbon Estimator, for anyone undertaking a construction project to get a quick idea of their upfront embodied carbon emissions prior to starting works.
The estimating tool helps everyone from commercial developers to home renovators to factor in their carbon emissions at the point of design. It fills a gap which until now has made sustainability calculation in real estate, available to only a small percentage of the industry. The web app works by plugging in a few variables about the type of property – industrial, commercial or residential, the internal floor area and materials used for construction.
The idea emerged in 2019 when Tom Scott, a Chartered Surveyor, began having conversations with clients – developers and contractors – wanting to lower their embodied carbon. He tried to help them find a simple carbon calculator, but says there wasn’t one available.
Scott, Founder and Co-director of Construction Carbon said: “Embodied carbon contributes to 11 per cent of global emissions and the need to reduce it tops the real estate agenda.
“The Construction Carbon Estimator does not replace a formal assessment, but it provides the basis for understanding the link between construction materials and embodied carbon emissions. This tool will hopefully incentivise people to use alternative construction methods in a bid to tackle net zero.”
Construction Carbon is regulated by RICS and is a member of the UK Green Building Council.
