RICS launches improved Embodied Carbon Database

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has launched a new-look Embodied Carbon Database designed…
Embodied Carbon

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has launched a new-look Embodied Carbon Database designed to help built environment professionals identify where carbon reductions can be made throughout the construction process of buildings.

The database indicates the typical embodied carbon footprint of different building typologies and allows users to calculate the embodied carbon emissions associated with each phase of construction. It also enables cost comparisons to be made against similar projects. This allows built environment professionals to benchmark their designs to a far greater extent and access more detailed comparative data than was previously available.

The Embodied Carbon Database was originally commissioned by WRAP and UKGBC to capture embodied carbon data for buildings. UKGBC has recently helped the RICS to engage construction and property industry professionals in the evolution of the database. This evolution has delivered improvements in both user interface and data resilience.

Alastair Mant, Head of Business Transformation at UKGBC said:

“The Embodied Carbon Database is a useful tool for built environment professionals in understanding their carbon reduction efforts in context.

“I’m proud that we have been able to harness the convening power of UKGBC in bringing the industry together to review and improve this important resource. Making data open and freely available in this way is essential if we are to facilitate the transformation required to decarbonise our built environment at speed and at scale.

“We encourage our members and others in the industry to register their completed carbon calculations and help build a detailed comparative dataset that will aid building design benchmarking.”

The new look database is now live and can be accessed here. Feedback on the database is welcome, please contact wlcarbon@rics.org with any comments or questions.

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