Best Use of Technology: Carbon Reduction in Design

This category recognises teams using technology to drive down carbon in design of projects for any part of the built environment. This may be in the form of embodied carbon through the use of improved design, effective carbon calculators, or creation of digital twins.

Anglian Water

Whole life carbon toolkit

Anglian Water, leading a collaborative project with industry partners, has developed a groundbreaking toolkit to integrate whole life carbon and cost management into infrastructure design, aiming to support the water sector's journey to net zero. Recognising the challenges of separate carbon data sets, standalone design tools, and lack of governance focus on whole life carbon/cost management, the project produced a playbook aligned with PAS2080. This includes a standard whole life carbon equation, digital tools for visualising carbon and cost hotspots, and a framework for improved and informed decision-making processes. The initiative, supported by Ofwat innovation funding, has demonstrated significant carbon savings and social value, with potential for further reductions. The project's deliverables are designed to be replicable across the sector, enhancing decision-making and reducing environmental impact, with all outputs freely available to drive cross-sectoral interest.

Arup

Total sustainable and digital design

Traditional design, characterised by a linear flow of siloed activities, is being revolutionised by digital integration. This shift is making the design process more efficient, impactful, and sustainable. By chaining together digital workflows, different disciplines can work collaboratively and simultaneously, reducing communication and handover costs, and saving time and money. More importantly, it empowers designers and engineers to use generative algorithms to test alternatives and embed sustainability. In the PwC Sanya campus project, nine Arup disciplines collaborated using the Total Sustainable and Digital approach. This approach, underpinned by automated workflows, enabled comprehensive initial design assessments across Structures, Geotechnical, Façades, MEP, Sustainability, CFD, Traffic, Acoustic, and Lighting. This project is a testament to the transformative power of digital integration in design.

Efestos Hub

Steel is one of the most energy intensive materials to produce and is responsible for approx. 9% of global carbon dioxide emissions. However, designers request new production for every project instead of using existing stock due to lack of access to a digital inventory. Every tonne of new steel produced requires 6MWh of energy - producing structural steel required to build a typical skyscraper, would consume as much energy as would be required to power a small city of ~50k people for one year. Efestos Hub (EH) is a digital platform that enables the re-use of structural steel and provides real-time access to digital inventory of reclaimed stock in a standardized way. Usage of reclaimed material leads to reduced carbon emissions and creates a circular economy while unlocking new business models in the structural steel industry.

Hyperion Robotics

Esholt wastewater treatment works

Hyperion Robotics offers code-compliant, low-carbon reinforced concrete products to construction companies for infrastructure projects in the energy, utilities, water and civil infrastructure sectors. Thanks to the efficiencies of its automated 3D printing process following Eurocode standards, they have helped clients significantly reduce their carbon emissions, material usage, project delivery time, and costs compared to traditional construction methods. Their latest project for Yorkshire Water’s largest water treatment facility demonstrated the benefits of concrete 3D printing. Hyperion designed, manufactured and supplied four made-to-measure drawpits. Compared to traditional methods, they were able to provide a reduction of embodied carbon by 40%, 50% material savings, 70% lead time reduction, and direct cost savings for its client. After proving the benefits of the automated production of low-carbon optimised prefabricated elements in the water sector, Hyperion has gained traction. It aims to establish a UK-based production facility in Q1 2025 and manufacture for other infrastructure sectors.

Mott MacDonald

Moata Carbon Portal 

Mott MacDonald’s Moata Carbon Portal (MCP) is a digital solution by Mott MacDonald that democratises low carbon design, enabling all project professionals to understand, manage, and reduce carbon emissions in a project. Unlike traditional methods and software, MCP is accessible and user-friendly, ensuring a seamless integration with project processes. With 450 monthly users, MCP has influenced over 500 water projects, significantly reducing carbon emissions. It aligns with the global standard for carbon in infrastructure (PAS 2080) and addresses challenges like scarcity of carbon-literate professionals. Some examples of MCP’s impact in the water sector include Yorkshire Water, which reduced embodied carbon by 78%, and Wessex Water, streamlining decision-making and creating significant savings in estimation time. The MCP’s scalability extends to global water utilities, soon to be aided by AI for low carbon design.

Preoptima

The planning application carbon evaluation and reduction (PACER) Platform

The Planning Application Carbon Evaluation and Reduction (PACER) tool, a digital platform to drive down carbon emissions in the design of building projects, stems from an innovative collaboration between Preoptima and Westminster City Council. By addressing a significant green skills gap and limiting resource constraints, PACER empowers local planning authorities to enforce Net Zero policies effectively and fulfill their critical role as gatekeepers to the carbon footprint of the built environment. The platform's advanced data parsing and reporting provide comprehensive insights into the potential carbon footprint of projects, enabling planning officers to review applicants’ whole life carbon assessments and request carbon reductions where values are too high. PACER exemplifies the use of transformative technology to reduce embodied carbon through improved design, setting it as a pioneering solution in sustainable urban development.

Structural & Civil Consultants

Into the woods for negative carbon construction - Swinton Estate

"S&CC have decades of experience in designing low-carbon super-structures using solid British hardwoods and softwoods and in adding life expectancy to timber buildings. Research involved project “Green Beams” which purchased, tested, dried and sold hardwood timber to assess properties. In 2022-24, collaboration with the Swinton Castle Estate, resulted in first design of a truly negative-carbon office structure, including the substructure. • S&CC helped select timber saved from the estate’s biomass boilers. • Thirty-five year beech and sycamore thinnings used for the main structure. • Larch from trees infected with Sudden Larch Death for joists. • Hempcrete, and stone walls • Sandstone Foundations • Concrete and steel avoided. • Life Expectancy 150+ years • Constructed with a carbon footprint of -10tonnes CO2e. • Highlights misconceptions that timber cannot store carbon This project reflects the 2024 exciting initiative by the main construction bodies, including ICE, to cut carbon footprints and capture CO2e."

TEAM2100

The Canvey Island Southern Shoreline Revetment

The Canvey Island Southern Shoreline Revetment Project is part of the Thames Estuary Asset Management (TEAM) 2100 Programme. The project involves renewing and improving the revetment on the tidal defences along the Canvey Island shoreline. Construction commenced in January 2023. Following selection of the lowest carbon option, the design team identified opportunities to optimise design, reduce material quantities, and use novel materials – including combining Basalt Fibre Reinforced Polymer reinforcement bars with Cemfree Rapid concrete in the offsite manufacture of 17 sets of pre-cast concrete steps, resulting in an ~80% reduction in carbon compared to a traditional concrete and steel rebar structure. Its drive to maximise opportunities for innovation has focussed on decarbonisation, and in 2023 the project innovated with renewable energy and low carbon materials to deliver climate resilience more sustainably.