Embodied carbon is increas- ingly becoming a more significant part of the overall carbon burden for properties and, as a result, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has published a method to calculate embodied carbon for the full life cycle of a building.

Embodied carbon, or the total carbon emitted during the life of a building, can be a significant amount of the total life cycle carbon and this proportion will probably increase overtime, says Rics special products and sustainability director Martin Russell-Croucher.

Rics’ first-edition method that measures embodied carbon, calculates carbon equivalents, which are greenhouse gases quoted as carbon dioxide (CO₂) for the life cycle of a building – from its design, construction, operation and maintenance to the end of its life.

Russell-Croucher states that taking a standardised approach will enable consistent reporting and comparability of carbon calculations.

He adds that ignoring embodied carbon is potentially undermining not only the objective of reducing the carbon emitted into the atmosphere but subsequently also the reduction of the effects of climate change.

“Often, embodied carbon levels reach up to 70% of the total carbon in low-energy thermal buildings, which reduces the operational energy. “If embodied carbon was not considered, thermal buildings may not become carbon positive for more than 40 years, spoiling the savings made during their operation and making them unsustainable in the long term,” Russell-Croucher notes.

He says the new Rics’ method is the only one designed for building professionals that they can use to measure embodied carbon and he believes that it will provide these professionals, especially chartered surveyors, with a full understanding of the impacts of decisions made at the design and construction stage on the total carbon emissions for a building.

Focusing on carbon, significant items will enable surveyors to advise on the various design options to provide the most suitable and balanced solutions, says Russell-Croucher, adding that the method will increasingly become a vital tool for sur- veyors to reduce CO₂ to combat the effects of climate change.