Seeing the bigger picture – industry emissions, your project and the performance gap

The fact engineers are now pursuing low-carbon solutions on projects is both encouraging and imperative for the sustainable future of our habitat. However, we must take caution in singleminded approaches that prioritise an individual project over the wider industry benefit. Using consumption-average carbon factors for our principal materials gives the highest chance of estimating site emissions accurately and making the most appropriate decisions at early stages of design. While using less material is still the priority, knowing what to use less of and how to help decarbonise the material supply are necessary steps to having the most positive impact.