Ionut Hapaianu

The demand curves were normalised curves.. To simply represent a portfolio of products I allocated a probability to each of the four trajectories.. Then I looked at scale.

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..However, it really comes down to two, distinct schools of thought.

These revolve around the use of either an owned or distributed model.The former focuses on ownership of the whole integration chain, the whole vertical delivery model.

In this instance, a player owns the factories and designs, pushing out what’s required for the kit-of-parts to consultants, and achieving an output that way.On the other hand, some contractors don’t want to tell others how to innovate and would prefer to let the innovation ride.