Where is the data to decarbonise the built environment?

Carbon, while not the only voice, has undoubtedly become the loudest voice in the built environment sector. While there may be disagreements about the emissions estimates from our sector, the call for decarbonisation has brought into sharp focus the need for data, data standards, and digitalisation. Broadly, the sector’s decarbonisation program requires several actions, including setting targets with appropriate milestones, standards to classify, measure, and report, standard calculation methodologies, digital tools to support work processes, databases and benchmarks, and a skilled workforce.
Decarbonising new and existing stock of built assets cannot be achieved without fundamentally shifting towards a whole-of-life worldview with a push for our sector to move further towards digitally enabled and data-driven work practices. Given the complex ecosystem needed for decarbonisation, this blog focuses on the importance of the following three elements:

• A standard to establish comprehensive technical criteria, methods, measurements, and requirements for whole-life carbon assessment.
• An internationally agreed reporting framework.
• Data, data standards, and digital tools to support the above two.

The RICS Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA) professional standard sets the methodology for consistent and accurate carbon measurement in the built environment. The 2nd edition, released in September 2023, is globally relevant and identifies ways professionals can reduce embodied, operational and user carbon emissions expected to be emitted over the life cycle of new builds and existing assets. The standard allows professionals to use it alongside their national and regional frameworks. It is a world-leading carbon calculation methodology aligned with international and regional standards from ISO and EN.

Results measured using the standardised methodology, such as the RICS WLCA 2nd edition, must be reported in an internationally agreed framework. The ICMS 3rd edition provides a high-level framework against which life cycle costs and carbon emissions can be classified, defined, recorded, analysed, presented, and compared. A coalition of fifty global professional bodies came together to develop a life cycle cost and carbon emissions taxonomy included in the 3rd edition. The WLCA 2nd edition is now aligned with the ICMS 3rd edition. Using ICMS 3rd edition for reporting, assessors can integrate costs and carbon emissions, making decarbonisation decisions cost-effective.

Data, data standards, and digitalisation are pivotal and transformative in decarbonising the built environment. These elements promote data-driven decision-making and enhance the efficiency and sustainability of the entire life cycle of built assets. In the face of pressing environmental concerns, there is an urgent need to harness the power of digitalisation to build smarter, safer, and more sustainable assets.

Data, data standards, and digital tools enable whole-of-life and whole-life asset thinking. By collecting and analysing data at every stage, stakeholders can make more informed decisions collaboratively that reduce carbon emissions and environmental impact over the asset’s life cycle. By having access to real-time information, stakeholders can adapt and optimise asset performance, reducing consumption and emissions. Data standards ensure that information can be shared and integrated across different systems and platforms for decarbonisation. This enables interoperability and a more efficient data exchange, leading to better decision-making and optimised asset performance.

Measuring whole-life carbon for different types of constructed assets consistently, comprehensively, systematically, and practically is a core requirement for decarbonising the built environment. From the world-leading Whole Life Carbon Assessment for the Built Environment professional standard to a market-led carbon database, the coalition-supported International Cost Management Standard, and other sustainability-related offerings, RICS and its members bring to the market a digital-ready decarbonisation toolkit to comprehensively assess, measure, compare, benchmark, and reduce carbon emissions.

About Anil Sawhney

Anil Sawhney, Ph.D. is the Director of the Infrastructure Sector for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). He leads the emerging initiative and strategy on placing and positioning the Institution within the field of commercial management of infrastructure projects globally.