Costain’s new Carbon Design Tool is helping clients and suppliers identify potential carbon emissions hotspots on infrastructure projects.
Infrastructure solutions company Costain has created a tool to identify and ‘design out’ potential carbon hotspots at the earliest possible stage of infrastructure projects. The Carbon Design Tool is used at the design stage to forecast potential carbon hotspots during an infrastructure project.
The forecasted emissions are benchmarked in line with the latest RICS guidance, enabling a comprehensive and robust comparison of design alternatives. This enables Costain’s project teams to reduce carbon as early as possible in the project lifecycle, such as by adopting alternative construction methods, implementing design modifications or substituting or reusing specific materials or products.
The tool is displayed via an online dashboard, with the data presented in a user-friendly, accessible manner to ensure widespread use across a project team, not just sustainability or carbon management specialists. “The Carbon Design Tool’s ability to forecast emissions at the design stage will make it easier for projects to adopt more sustainable, lower carbon methods from the outset and support a decarbonised UK, said Nanette Heystek, principal sustainability engineer at Costain.
The Carbon Design Tool has already been applied to Costain’s projects in aviation, energy and water and is now being rolled out across all of Costain’s sectors. It has been successfully applied to Costain’s design for a new baggage handling system for Heathrow Airport, where the tool identified steel as a major carbon hotspot and subsequently helped Costain deliver a design with a 26% reduction in embodied carbon compared with traditional methods.
The tool is the latest commitment from Costain to invest in new systems and tools to deliver sustainable outcomes on its infrastructure projects and works in conjunction with Costain’s Environmental Construction Data Tracker, which simplifies carbon emissions reporting during the construction phase. Combined, the two technologies provide a holistic, end-to-end carbon management system for customers and supply chain partners, creating a continuous cycle of improvement and insight-based decision making around decarbonisation.
Costain’s Nanette Heystek added: “Costain is committed to creating a sustainable future and we’re investing in tools and technologies to help our customers and supply chain understand and reduce carbon emissions from the earliest stage of a project whilst taking into account other factors such as cost, efficiency, and project timelines. We’ve already been successful in improving the accuracy and frequency of environmental data reporting during the delivery phase of our infrastructure projects.”
