Europe Biannual Construction Market Report 3Q/4Q 2024
Introducing Decarbonise
Introducing Decarbonise:
Decarbonise is a collaborative tool bridging cost management and sustainability for embodied carbon intelligence.
By leveraging Decarbonise, organisations can vastly improve their efficiency and decision-making processes in minimising embodied carbon at the design stage.
Cutting embodied carbon at the design stage is crucial, as it impacts the environment immediately.
Key to efforts in decarbonisation is the ability to collate accurate data. Multiple disjointed sources with inconsistent information often form part of current analyses, delivered via inflexible platforms that hinder the creation of tailored reports.
Gleeds has developed Decarbonise from a global database of environmental product declarations (EPDs) curated by sustainability experts — creating a trusted embodied carbon and project cost tool that aids efforts to meet net zero and wider ESG targets.
Aligned to industry standards such as the RICS Whole Life Carbon Assessment, Professional Standard, 2nd edition, Decarbonise allows clients to cost effectively reduce both carbon and capital costs. Developed from extensive analyses by Gleeds and cross-validated project case studies, it achieves an impressive reduction in upfront embodied carbon.
In most cases, clients can save up to 15% of embodied carbon without any major capital cost impacts, which can be deliberated by the project team for implementation.
Further advantages of using Decarbonise
Navigating embodied carbon
Low-carbon materials can be costly. Understanding how to optimise the selection of materials that are both carbon and budget-friendly is key.
Carbon impact analysis
Process multiple scenarios and material options to make informed decisions based on cost and carbon trade-off criteria. Using industry standards such as ISO 14025 and RICS professional statements, Gleeds’ analysts present their findings via dashboards to highlight the top 10 materials and elements contributing to embodied carbon and cost details. Recommendations are then made based on the insights obtained.
Downloadable reports
With just a click, a downloadable embodied carbon and cost estimation report is available. Project information and summaries explaining carbon and cost relationship, with recommendations to lower embodied carbon while benchmarked across globally available embodied carbon targets.
Informed decision making
Utilising Decarbonise throughout concept, schematic and detailed design stages allows for efficient collaboration with stakeholders. Informed decision-making is achieved through clear benchmarking in projects and across portfolios.
We empower stakeholders to not just calculate embodied carbon but to envision a world where sustainability isn't a choice but a fundamental principle guiding every decision.
Case study
Heritage villa upgrade
Decarbonise collaborated with the cost management team on the embodied carbon (stages A to C) optimisation of a high-end villa refurbishment and upgrade in Europe to identify the most sustainable and cost-effective design options.
Challenge: The challenge was to provide baseline embodied carbon and major item cost calculations to aid the design team during the RIBA Stage 2 design in identifying cost and carbon drivers.
Objectives: The goal was to provide the client with a clear understanding of the design options and their impact on carbon and cost to enable focused discussions and collaboration between multi-national project teams and specialist vendor engagement.
Solution: To address the challenge, we provided a detailed analysis of the RIBA Stage 2 design through our extensively curated international embodied carbon database to provide stage A to C embodied carbon calculations with the top 10 impacted trades and items that could be looked at by the project team. The team also offered potential carbon optimisation options for the design team’s review.
Outcome: A well-informed, actionable report with recommendations for a significant potential reduction of 17.5% in upfront embodied carbon. Implementing and closely monitoring these measures from the initial design stages unlocks a collaborative approach to achieving better-informed decisions.
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