Commercial Build Projects To Count The ‘cost’ Of Carbon

Construction projects will soon come with both a financial budget and a projected carbon estimate as quantity surveyors increasingly include carbon emissions in their advice to clients.

The New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors has established a Carbon Accounting Working Group to upskill quantity surveyors in this climate initiative – how to estimate the amount of carbon that will be ‘released’ as part of the overall build process, and, in due course, the amount to be released over the life of the building.

Chair of the Institute’s working group, Michael Crutchley, says the sector’s increased focus on carbon emissions is being driven by new climate change legislation and moves by government agencies, the construction sector’s biggest client-type.

Crutchley says carbon estimates will include the amount of carbon likely to be released in the manufacture of the raw building materials, the building’s construction stage, its operation and its end of life.

“Quantity surveyors have an important role to play through value engineering, whereby they can recommend alternative specifications, or methods that achieve better outcomes for both carbon emissions and build cost,” he said.

“There are also clear parallels between capital cost estimating and whole of life costing, and the estimating of carbon emissions.”

Common building materials already come with an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) which measures the carbon impact of their production.

And while low carbon building materials are already available, Crutchley says they will become more commonly used as emissions budgets gain traction within the construction industry.

“To some extent quantity surveyors and clients will have to balance the build’s financial costs with its carbon impact, however there are good opportunities to reduce both, and strike the right balance.”

Crutchley says reducing carbon emissions will be an important factor in ensuring the wider construction sector plays its part in helping New Zealand reduce overall carbon output to the targets set in the national Emissions Reduction Plan.

“The Institute is keen to get more formalised training and CPD programmes in place to upskill quantity surveyors in what is going to be an increasingly important component of the construction sector build process.”

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