Low Carbon at Low Cost
A frequently asked question is whether low-carbon design will incur extra costs. To the contrary of this common concern, multiple statements and research projects have demonstrated that significant (10-30%) carbon savings are regularly found for free. A summary of these is listed below for easy reference.
Real world experience
Anglian Water, 2023 "With a committed leadership and a determined supply chain, by 2020 we had reduced capital carbon by 61 per cent in our capital programmes from our original 2010 baseline and reduced operational emissions by 34 per cent from a baseline set in 2014/2015. These whole life carbon reductions have already benefited our customers through driving additional capital expenditure (capex) and operational (opex) efficiencies."
Clean Energy Finance Corporation in collaboration with the Green Building Council of Australia and the Infrastructure Sustainability Council, 2021. "Cost effective solutions are available today to substantially reduce embodied carbon. Depending on the initiatives implemented, it is possible to achieve five to 18 per cent reduction in embodied carbon whilst also achieving a 0.4 to three per cent reduction in material costs for typical building and infrastructure projects."
Jungclaus, Esau et al. 2021. Reducing Embodied Carbon in Buildings: Low-Cost, High-Value Opportunities, RMI "The case studies showcased in this report show an embodied carbon savings potential of 19%–46% at cost premiums of less than 1%. Current practice indicates that we can achieve these reductions by specifying and substituting material alternatives with lower embodied carbon during the design and specification process. Far greater reductions are possible when a whole-building design approach is taken."
Skanska US, 2020. "Use of the EC3 tool over the last two years has shown that a 30 percent reduction in embodied carbon is typically achievable for little or no cost. Recently Skanska partnered with the Rocky Mountain Institute on a study that produced similar results."
CLC & BIS, 2013. Construction 2025. "In infrastructure, the construction industry has the most influence over the capital carbon impact of what it produces. There are important steps to be taken here and the industry needs a plan which can sit alongside the Infrastructure UK Cost Review. In this area, less capital carbon can equate directly to less capital cost."
Faithful & Gould, 2012. "For many of the projects we have undertaken, it is cost effective to reduce a project’s embodied carbon by 30% through using less materials, substituting high carbon materials with low carbon ones, using higher levels of recycled content and materials which last longer. Our work with Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in adopting a resource efficient approach to construction reduced the capital costs on projects by 1%."
Bechtel - various case studies showing carbon and costs savings in infrastructure projects. https://www.bechtel.com/carbon-reduction-case-studies/
Theoretical Modelling
Dunant, Drewniok et al., 2021 "Using our model, we find that real designs are relatively efficient economically, but less so environmentally: the typical building frame could have 40–60% less embodied carbon, and be approximately 10–20% cheaper with the right selection.
Kanilyamaz et al, 2023. Evaluated the embodied carbon and cost implications of various choices made at early design stage, highlighting the benefits of addressing embodied carbon early, highlighting benefits from reducing spans, increasing storeys etc to reduce embodied carbon and costs for example.