The Target Zero building study provides guidance on operational energy reduction, achievement of higher BREEAM ratings and an understanding of embodied energy of materials.
To determine the embodied energy of the various construction options it was necessary to undertake a lifecycle assessment. Target Zero uses a whole lifecycle assessment from material manufacture to end-of-life, referred to as cradle-to-grave. This is a more complete assessment than cradle-to-gate, which is more commonly used, but only considers the energy used to manufacture a product. The simplified cradle-to-gate LCA disregards the burdens or benefits of important stages of a product lifecycle, such as disposal or reuse. A cradle-to-gate methodology makes no distinction between those two options, so a material which can be usefully recycled is considered to be environmentally equivalent to one that is destined for landfill.
It is clear that a cradle-to-grave methodolgy is preferable, but such assessments are comparatively rare due to an absence of good data to support them. The Target Zero study had sufficient scope to undertake the whole life cycle assessment using the best available published information about each material.
Table of values of embodied carbon of materials using cradle-to-grave whole life cycle assessment
A table of values developed for the Target Zero project.
Time for change
BCSA and Tata Steel commit to helping the construction industry adopt cradle-to-gate whole life cycle assessment as standard.
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