We question everything, and take nothing for granted, in line with our Design to Value approach.. Design to Value is well understood and applied in the manufacturing industries.

This can be achieved via measures to reduce the use or the carbon of individual materials, the implementation of energy efficiency measures, the use of on-site renewables and finally a combination of carbon offset schemes and green Power Purchase Agreements (PPA)..It should be noted, that for most new developments nowadays it is not feasible to become net zero within the possibilities of the design (energy and material efficiency measures), so the use of carbon offset schemes and PPA is essential.. Why should we focus on sustainable construction and net zero carbon?.

The UK has established ambitious targets to reduce carbon by 2050.The UK aspires to reduce total carbon emissions by 78% by 2035, compared to 2020 levels, and become net zero carbon by 2050.These ambitions, translated to the built environment, can only be achieved via the implementation of measures to reduce operational and embodied carbon of new buildings, upgrading existing buildings, the use of ambitious policies and crucially via a decarbonised grid..

The built environment contributes to around 40% of the UK's total carbon footprint.Based on UKGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings “A framework definition", a typical Cat A office’s building embodied carbon, after the first year of use, would be 75% of the total carbon, whilst the operational carbon would be around 25%.

Although the operational carbon will accumulate overtime, a decarbonised grid will mean that the growth rate will flatten, and after 60 years the embodied carbon will still remain higher than operational carbon, as shown in Figure 2.

This means that the focus and the priority should shift from operational to embodied carbon during the design..This is a must read for construction professionals.’.

As things stand, the UK is not on track to hit the government target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050..The Climate Emergency Design Guide.

is an essential tool to help the built environment create coordinated consensus and do more to stop runaway climate change.Building new homes to the highest efficient standards is an important first step to cutting emissions from housing.