Construction’s Carbon Dilemma – Whitepaper
Why is Operational & Embodied Carbon Critical?
Together, operational, and embodied carbon emissions over the whole life of the building are known as whole life carbon emissions (WLC), and these factors are what are being considered by key stakeholders. Whilst Sapphire Balconies products make up only a small percentage of the “carbon costs” of the envelope of the building, and even less overall, we still recognise that facilitating our clients’ goals in this regard is essential.
An assessment of WLC impact must contain several stages- including Upfront, Use-stage embodied, and End-of-life Carbon. The manufacturing and installation aspects of Sapphire Balconies can be seen within the context of upfront usage, with the lifetime carbon cost of the balcony in the latter stages.
The whitepaper details the current progress and situation for Sapphire Balconies when it comes to the carbon generation from our products and key considerations for designers and specifiers.
Why are operational and embodied carbon important?
In reality to build buildings either traditionally or with Modern Methods involves many workers and materials travelling to the site and even if these are minimised each material requires some element of energy to produce, assemble etc. meaning that in reality all products have embodied carbon. That said the reduction of carbon emissions both in the build and the ongoing use of the building is a key role we all play, after which offsetting this comes into play to make a product “Carbon Neutral”.
Although the balcony is only a small part of the overall construction project, it is clear that “Carbon Neutral” construction is not only a laudable and ethical goal, but an achievable one. The target of entirely carbon neutral new builds, particularly in the large residential/commercial project space, is achievable when specific steps are taken.
Request Carbon Whitepaper:
This whitepaper is only available for request. Once requested a member of our team will contact you.