The Importance of Upskilling on Whole Life Carbon Assessments

As the built environment paves pathways to net zero, conducting accurate Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) emerges as a crucial tool in reducing the whole life carbon impact of buildings.

Whole Life Carbon

Emissions associated with construction account for approximately 11% of the global total. However, this sector has historically not received much attention, with more efforts focused on reducing operational emissions. As the grid decarbonises and buildings become more efficient, the industry’s understanding has evolved from a focus on operational energy reductions to the importance of reducing the whole life carbon impact of buildings. The key tool for achieving this is conducting an LCA.

 

Upskilling

As the number of embodied carbon (and more broadly, whole life carbon) assessments increases, the development of practitioner accreditation programmes is necessary to ensure the competence and expertise of assessors, and the reliability and consistency of assessment results. 

Construction Carbon recognised this challenge through our work as independent 3rd party verifiers for lifecycle carbon assessments.  We therefore appreciate the importance of having an accredited network of assessors who conduct Whole Life Carbon Assessments (WLCA) to a common and high standard.   

The UKGBC has highlighted these issues in their recent modelling and reporting guidance, with a Call to Action on Upskilling, saying: 

We need an official education route through accreditation schemes to improve the expertise of assessors, further enhancing the reliability of assessment results”

With a network of assessors conducting carbon assessments in line with a common method, there will be an improved ability to set common and meaningful carbon limits, either through legislation and planning (such as the Greater London Authority policy SI2), or through voluntary schemes such as the UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard.

Figure 1: The LETI embodied carbon bands for A1-A5. More reliable assessment means more reliable target setting.

Setting a Minimum Standard of Professional Capability  

Construction Carbon has been leading a collaborative effort within the industry to offer a two-stage training syllabus on lifecycle assessments. The first stage foundation level LCA training is offered via the Supply Chain Sustainability School, with support from the Laudes foundation. This training was created with industry leading experts Jane Anderson, Simon Sturgis, Leonardo Poli, and Pat Hermon, with support from the team at Introba. This training is currently available for free, having launched in January 2024. Over 400 individuals have already been through the programme. It consists of 6 hours of online videos, followed by a one hour live online session, and a multiple-choice exam. Anyone can participate in the foundation level training for free and without prior LCA experience.

For the second phase, we have teamed up with the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), who will be offering formal accreditation for individuals looking to become certified Whole Life Carbon Assessors (WLCA). CIBSE have an open attitude towards working with other organisations, having previously carried out extensive work on embodied carbon of building services with the publication of TM65 and TM 65.3, and already train over 5,000 EPC assessors annually to a government recognised accreditation.

Future Outlook

As the UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard is released, and as local authorities introduce more stringent planning requirements relating to whole life carbon, there will be an increase in demand for accredited practitioners. Consistent assessments enabled by formal training will therefore be very important.

The Carrot and Stick

There is increasing interest from development financiers in the idea of conditioning their lending on the whole life carbon performance of projects, typically by offering rebates based on the embodied carbon performance of the development. This financial incentive can be released (or not) at practical completion if the chosen KPI is achieved.  Initiatives are already moving ahead but will likely accelerate as the accuracy and consistency of whole life carbon assessments improves across the industry. 

A significant barrier to this financing being unleashed is the lack of confidence that KPIs are being calculated in the same way by different assessors.  A network of formally accredited assessors and a common recognition of what good looks like (such as the UKNZCBS) should provide a mechanism to unlock the demand from financiers to condition lending based on these parameters. 

Embodied Carbon database workshop

Conclusion

Construction Carbon is the first step to becoming a certified LCA practitioner, and a critical element of a broader industry upskilling. The demand for carbon literate professionals in growing rapidly in line with wider awareness and legislation, and to meet that demand upskilling is urgently required.

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About Construction Carbon

Construction Carbon offers Life Cycles Assessment (LCA) training and software to decarbonise developments by forecasting, tracking & reporting embodied carbon emissions.

What can you do?

You and your team can participate in the free LCA training today. If you intend to offer LCA services to clients, you can encourage team members to become accredited LCA practitioners. We have already seen some large consultancies including the free training in their internal CPD initiatives already and sign up for the accredited training, which is launching in December of this year.

How do I sign up?

You can sign up to the free foundation level training on the Construction Carbon website here.

You can register your interest in the accredited LCA training on the CIBSE website here

Embodied Carbon

While many leading developers and infrastructure organisations measure and optimise the embodied carbon footprint of their projects, it is far from being mainstream practice. UKGBC’s Advancing Net Zero team is working with experts across the industry to change this.
Learn more
Embodied Carbon database workshop

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