On target to becoming carbon free

Target Zero is a free online resource offering guidance to anyone in the construction industry who would like to know more about carbon-free buildings. With such a huge issue it can be difficult to know where to start, so this resource is designed to focus attention in the right areas.

We have identified five key building types, which are:

• School
• Warehouse
• Supermarket
• Office
• Mixed use

All of these require a different approach, although we are hoping that common themes will become established. We’ve carried out studies of each type of building; although the study was theoretical, we used real buildings from sustainability-conscious contractor Balfour Beatty and clients Development Securities, ProLogis, Asda and Peel Leisure.

For each building type, we looked at three areas:

• Embodied energy (the carbon footprint when you build something);
• Operational energy (where the big carbon emissions are) and how to reduce it;
• BREEAM (Building Research Establishment and Environmental Assessment Model) the industry standard for measuring sustainability of a building.

From this, Target Zero can help you to assess the cost of achieving the highest three levels in BREEAM, and the steps you will need to take to achieve them.

This information is invaluable top-line guidance at the beginning of a new construction project. You can see what you can achieve within your budgets, how cost effective certain carbon-reducing measures are and what the outcomes are likely to be. This guidance is all in line with the zero carbon targets set by the government.

As a resource, we want to provide you with the best and most accurate information. Ultimately, you will need to go into detailed design yourself, but this is a very good way of establishing limitations and options right from the start.

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