Read this for better performing projects

PAS 2080, the newly revised specification for carbon reduction, is accompanied by a guidance document – a self-help manual for putting principles into action. Anyone who cares about reducing the built environment’s carbon footprint should read it, says Damien Canning.

PAS 2080 is essential reading. But the specification is brought to life by the accompanying guidance document.

It was the UK government’s Infrastructure Carbon Review in 2013 that fired the starting gun for carbon reduction. But in the last decade the industry’s achievements have been limited, with a few notable exceptions. While updating PAS 2080, the author team of colleagues from Mott MacDonald and Arup explored the reasons for the slow progress. Their response has been to create a manual packed with worked examples, covering every stage of the project lifecycle.

The 2016 edition of PAS 2080 introduced the carbon reduction hierarchy, which is still a key reference point. The hierarchy shows that as the project lifecycle advances the opportunities for carbon reduction tail off, emphasising the importance of maximising reduction efforts during the earliest stages, when the scope of the project is set.

What is new is the level of detail provided at each stage about the roles and responsibilities of every member of the value chain, highlighting critical interdependencies and opportunities for collaboration.

Welcome to PAS City

The guidance document shows how decarbonisation can be accomplished across the whole of the built environment – buildings and infrastructure – by walking users through a fictional PAS City. It maps the opportunities that must be seized and actions that must be taken to cut carbon from project initiation to end-of-life.

The very first opportunity involves establishing the need for a project and its expected carbon impact. It starts with setting decarbonisation as a desired project outcome, equal to the other business goals the project owner wants to achieve.

Carbon emissions – and reduction potential – are strongly influenced by the connections and interdependencies between new and existing assets, networks and systems. By mapping them, project owners can identify all the stakeholders with influence and control over whole life carbon emissions, and work with them to drive the deepest possible reduction.

Stakeholder engagement during the initial needs-examination and subsequent optioneering stages is essential for identifying all possible reduction opportunities: That is when key decisions affecting design, delivery and operation are made. It is also when the processes, metrics and governance structures for whole life carbon management must be put in place, supported by appropriate data sources and assessment tools.

With PAS City providing examples, the guidance document works through every stage, making PAS 2080 accessible and relevant to practitioners in every built environment discipline. Whoever you are and whatever your role, this is a book you can pick up to find the advice you need.