The case for lower carbon must be the case for lower cost

Andrew Wolstenholme OBE BSc CEng FICE
30 October 2014

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The industry must look seriously at how all parties are incentivised to identify and table low carbon low cost opportunities, says Crossrali chief executive Andrew Wolstenholme.

As an industry need to work together to overcome scepticism in the industry about the business case for carbon reduction where it still exists. The Green Construction Board’s recent Infrastructure Carbon Review will certainly help in this respect.  

But we must also look seriously at how all parties are incentivised to identify and table such opportunities. Typically, the client incentivises for a reduction in capital cost. Items such as M&E design are often procured as a reference design or with the contractor required to develop the design or detail it.  

"Our journey on carbon reduction goes back to design work we undertook from 2009 onwards, when we engaged with WRAP to facilitate designing out waste workshops, recognising even then that driving out waste through design had an impact on our embodied and construction carbon footprint."

Often these works will be sub-contracted as lump sum, again with no incentive to seek better whole life cost solutions.  We need to look at these challenges differently

Crossrail has committed to a low carbon agenda for a number of years and the ICR has provided us with a more tangible link and alignment with many of our tier 1 contractors. 

Our journey on carbon reduction goes back to design work we undertook from 2009 onwards, when we engaged with WRAP to facilitate designing out waste workshops, recognising even then that driving out waste through design had an impact on our embodied and construction carbon footprint. 

Subsequently, we have been using tools such as CEEQUAL and BREEAM which have provided a discipline in asking questions about our emerging designs and how they can be made more efficient in both material and energy use.

We have also created a high level forum, The Crossrail Carbon Working Group, which brings together the sustainability directors/managers of our tier 1 contractors in order to encourage collaborative thinking that will benefit not only Crossrail, but also help them to leverage better results within their supply chains for other projects.  

Another key thing that we should not forget is that we can save carbon by not doing more work than we need to. This means using the right equipment for the job and getting it right first time.  

There is a clear call to action on carbon reduction, so the time is right for the industry to respond positively to this.  There is opportunity, but before we even think about this, I would suggest that we are moving to a time when manufacturers, designers and contractors will need to respond to this carbon agenda just to keep in the game.  

Increasingly developments, be they buildings or infrastructure, will require carbon budgeting and if you are not able to demonstrate that you can reduce lifetime carbon through the products or services you are providing you will not be in that game.  

This provides a perfect breeding ground for innovation. We need this to provide healthy competition but also collaboration. 

Andrew Wolstenholme is chief executive of Crossrail