Embodied carbon versus operational carbon - why current targets for schools aren't working
Mike Cribb, Arup

The presentation will highlight common examples where design decisions to reduce operational carbon have the opposite affect on embodied carbon.
It will use the analogy between embodied/operational carbon and financial capital cost/running cost to show why a focus on only one will lead to poor decisions.
Case studies will highlight how the current DfE Spec 21 can incentivise poor solutions because it does not include embodied carbon targets.

It will discuss whether reducing embodied carbon now might have a greater impact on climate change than reducing operational carbon over the next 60 years.
The presentation will show that a holistic whole life carbon approach should be used to inform design decisions and that this could achieve more sustainable, lower carbon outcomes at lower financial cost.

Route to 600 and below – Decarbonising the school build towards net zero
Steve Smith & Carrie Lawrence, Kier Design & Business Services

Aspirations and targets to deliver low carbon design solutions is becoming more prevalent as the call to action on climate change becomes louder. Across many sectors both public and private clients are setting targets to achieve embodied carbon targets which challenge designs to specify and select low carbon options.

In this presentation we explore the journey Kier have embarked on to decarbonise for their education clients their standard school design. With the Department of Education (DfE) currently requiring contractors to report on embodied carbon, Kier has developed an approach which will deliver their standardised school at less than 600 kgCO2e/m2. This is particularly applicable to Wales and Scotland where embodied carbon targets are already contractual requirements.

The presentation explores the journey in terms of design, procurement, cost, and carbon assessment. What have we learnt, how does this apply across different sectors, clients, and geographical regions.