To truly understand the impact construction projects will have on climate change its necessary to calculate the embodied carbon emissions. This on-demand course is designed to help you understand how to calculate the embodied carbon of a structure through videos, independent study and expert guidance.
The course will provide those with little experience of embodied carbon with the basic skills required to bring embodied carbon accounting into all aspects of design. It will also consolidate knowledge and fill the gaps for those with some experience of embodied carbon.
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Quantify the embodied carbon footprint of a structure through a basic understanding of:
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calculation process and main inputs
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terminology, lifecycle stages
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the accuracy of calculations
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the relationship between different material types and their carbon impacts
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Develop a strategy for reducing carbon on different projects
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Understand when to use The Structural Carbon Tool as part of this process
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How to set targets
Module 1 - Definitions, the calculation, scope
Module 2 - Using the results, reuse and refurbishment
Module 3 - Steel, concrete, timber, brick and masonry
Module 4 - Other materials, environmental product, declarations
If you are not currently a member of the Institution, it is quick and easy to join. We have a variety of types and grades of membership you could consider. Find out more here.
Join the Affiliate Scheme from £50 and get free access to this course
The Institution’s Affiliate Scheme offers those in a field associated with structural engineering, such as architects or civil engineers, closer association with the profession. You might also be a structural engineer not aiming to become professionally qualified or already be a member of another professional association. Find out more about the Affiliate Scheme.
Speakers
Construction LCA
Jane Anderson FRSA has over 20 years’ experience in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Embodied Carbon and Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for the construction industry. She has provided consultancy around this to Welsh Government and the European Commission, and reviewed projects for BSI, RICS, CIBSE and WRAP. She has written guidance on Embodied Carbon for Woodknowledge Wales, ASBP, Construction Products Association, CIRIA and WRAP. She represents the UK in the development of European and International standards for EPD and Building LCA and acts as a verifier for several European EPD programmes including BRE. She has recently taken over as the Chair of B/558, the BSI Mirror Committee for sustainable construction standards.
Institution of Structural Engineers
Will Arnold MIStructE is Head of Climate Action at the IStructE. He leads the Institution’s response to the climate emergency, bringing this action into all aspects of our work including the publication of best-practice emergency guidance. Prior to his current role, he was a practising structural engineer at Arup for over ten years. He sits on the Structural Awards judging panel and is a member of the Engineering Advisory Group for The Structural Engineer.
Arup
Grace Di Benedetto BEng is a structural engineer from Arup, based in the Building Engineering group in London. She advocates for low-carbon design and material reuse on her projects and is on the leadership team for Arup’s Structural Engineering Sustainability Hub UK.
The Concrete Centre
Jenny Burridge MIStructE leads the team of structural engineers at The Concrete Centre who are dedicated to enabling all those involved in the design, use and performance of concrete to realise its full potential. She is a chartered civil and structural engineer with more than 30 years’ experience in the construction industry including working for Arup and AECOM designing award winning buildings in both the UK and mainland Europe. She is the UK representative on the CEN task group looking at revisions to the fire part of Eurocode 2 and chairs the BSI Advisory Committee for Engineering Design and Construction.
Arup
Orlando Gibbons MEng is a structural engineer at Arup, specialising in embodied carbon and working closely with the buildings sustainability team. He is an active member of the IStructE’s Sustainability Panel and of cross-industry groups looking to minimise embodied carbon.
ElliottWood
Penny Gowler MIStructE is Associate Director at Elliott Wood with over 15 years’ structural engineering experience and an interest in the sustainable refurbishment of existing buildings. As sustainability lead, Penny is instrumental in embedding embodied carbon analysis across Elliott Wood projects. She is passionate about low carbon design and circular economy principles and aims to drive structural engineering projects towards a lower carbon circular economy approach.
University of Bath
Will Hawkins MEng is a Lecturer in Structural Engineering Design at the University of Bath. He graduated from Cambridge in 2013, worked at AKTII for two years, and then completed a PhD on the design and optimisation of novel, low-carbon, concrete shell floor structures. Today, his research and teaching focuses on achieving zero carbon in construction, through design optimisation, novel structural systems and enhancing our understanding of the ecological impact of materials.
University of Cambridge
John Orr MIStructE is University Lecturer and EPSRC Early Career Fellow at the University of Cambridge. John’s teaching and research are closely linked to sustainable construction and improving construction sector productivity. John several funded research projects and has built a team of 14 around his vision for optimisation of existing and future infrastructure by learning from real performance. He is a member of the IStructE Sustainability Panel and was elected to IStructE Council in 2020.
ArcelorMittal
Walter Swann MIStructE is a Chartered Structural Engineer with a varied career in construction that spans design consultancy, steel fabrication and steel making. He leads ArcelorMittal’s Steligence Engineering team in the UK, a business unit that advises and supports clients, architects and designers to deliver buildings with low overall environmental impact using a palette of “best in class products”.
Buro Happold
Natasha Watson MICE is a Senior Structural Engineer at Buro Happold. She completed her Engineering Doctorate in Low Impact Building Materials in 2016 and has been advocating for their increased use, plus the reduction of embodied carbon in the built environment ever since. She is now an integral part of Buro Happold’s commitment to achieve at least a 50% reduction in embodied carbon within their projects by 2030.