Whole life carbon needs to be regulated to meet net zero, says research from the University of Sheffield

Dr Danielle Densley Tingley, an expert in low carbon engineering at the University, has called for whole life carbon – the emissions generated from the construction, maintenance and demolition of a building as well as from the energy used in its day-to-day operation – to be regulated to help tackle the climate crisis.

To reduce the levels of CO2 in construction, Dr Densley Tingley and the EAC are calling for the government to introduce a mandatory requirement for whole-life carbon assessments for buildings. This requirement should be fully incorporated in building regulations and the planning system.

The call has been made as part of a submission of evidence to an Environmental Audit Committee inquiry into the sustainability of the built environment.

Following the year-long inquiry, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has now published a report, featuring contributions from Dr Densley Tingley and other experts from the University’s Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, warning that to date there has been a lack of government impetus or policy levers to assess and reduce these emissions. With climate deadlines looming, the report highlights how urgent action is needed.

Dr Densley Tingley, said: “Embodied emissions are contributing an increasing proportion of built environment emissions. These must be regulated to deliver the reductions needed to limit global warming and achieve net zero in the UK.”

The report from EAC is also calling for more buildings to be retrofitted and reused rather than demolished, keeping the carbon locked in, and for this to be prioritised over new builds.

While the government states it is prioritising retrofit and reuse, the EAC is concerned that reforms to permitted development rights appear to have created an incentive for demolition and new-build over retrofit. The government must therefore urgently evaluate the impact of recent reforms to ensure that retrofit and reuse are prioritised, according to the report.

Previous studies from researchers in the University’s Department of Civil and Structural Engineering have also called for more buildings to be reused rather than demolished and have highlighted the benefits retrofitting can bring, not only to the environment, but to towns and cities across the UK.

A recent study from Sheffield researchers has revealed how extending buildings upwards by up to two additional storeys could help to tackle the UK’s housing crisis and meet net zero commitments. The research found that two storey extensions could provide an extra 175,000 homes in one city alone whilst also boosting struggling high streets.

Researchers from Sheffield’s Department of Civil and Structural Engineering have also recently developed a new tool to help those involved in the design and construction of buildings to reuse more materials and engage with the circular economy in order to build more sustainably.

The regenerate tool encourages building life extension to reduce material consumption and carbon emissions.

Dr Densley Tingley said: “The culture of building demolition and replacement must stop, our existing buildings are a vital resource, produced with a considerable carbon investment. Priority should be placed on retrofitting and repurposing this existing stock to meet the UK’s built environment needs, and legislation must support and encourage this.

“Building reuse, rather than demolition and new build, saves the embodied emissions of the new build. Carbon should be invested in retrofitting this stock for improved energy efficiency, delivering typically a lower whole life carbon solution than demolition and rebuild.”