Leading UK road- and rail-builders agree plan to reduce lifetime emissions of major developments - 11 December 2009
Leading UK construction organisations have joined together to develop a common approach to reduce emissions across the whole lifetime of major infrastructure projects. For the first time, developers of road and rail now have a consistent means to assess the carbon impacts of trains, cars and lorries using their services and can use this information to understand the total carbon impacts of infrastructure projects.
Led by Forum for the Future – the Highways Agency, RSSB (with participation from Network Rail), Atkins, and Balfour Beatty have agreed to look at the emissions of projects over their full lifecycles – managing carbon in the pre-design, design and construction activities, and also addressing and considering the carbon that arises during maintenance, operation, use and decommissioning activities.
By proactively managing and reducing carbon smartly, the construction sector plans to reduce unnecessary expenditure, making services more efficient and contributing to a long-term reduction in energy use.
The new approach or ‘framework’ is designed to help clients and project-leaders create processes that identify, manage and reduce carbon and focuses on the most significant, most controllable and most reducible carbon emissions associated with projects. The framework helps developers to:
Formally identify the projects’ participants and their contribution to the carbon of projects
Implement carbon management and reduction strategies
Understand the full scale of a project – the ‘project boundary’ – to decide which carbon sources to consider
Categorise the carbon within project boundaries to better understand where carbon can be managed, influenced and reported
Quantify the carbon, using actual data or realistic estimates where collection is not possible
Provide feed-back to the sector on lessons learnt and information gathered.
To enable take-up by contractors, the new carbon framework configures with project management processes already commonly used in road and rail infrastructure developments. And the concepts will also be applicable to all forms of project management.
The framework was developed through Forum For The Future’s Engineers of the 21st Century scheme. The project team consisted of young engineers from each of the partner organisations and was supported by a steering group, made up of representatives from the partner organisations and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Richard Craig, Major Projects Director, Highways & Transportation, Atkins said: "Carbon is an increasingly important consideration in projects so we need robust methods of measuring and tracking it throughout the design and construction process. Atkins' young engineers welcomed the chance to help develop this new framework as we realise that traditional success measures are now not enough. Just as world leaders are currently promising far-reaching action at the climate change talks in Copenhagen, the construction industry must do its best to innovate and curb the impacts of infrastructure on the environment."
Ginny Clarke, Director of Network Services and Chief Highways Engineer for the Highways Agency, said: "The Highways Agency is pleased to be a significant part of the partnership developing this framework, which is closely aligned with our aim of protecting the environment whilst improving England's strategic road network. This innovative approach, involving young engineers working with Forum For The Future, will help form a common platform for carbon management in the infrastructure community".
Len Porter, chief executive at RSSB said: "This new framework sits well with the broader sustainability thinking that the GB rail industry identifies with through the Sustainable Rail Programme, which RSSB facilitates – and particularly through the principle of becoming 'Carbon Smart'. It shows how environmental improvement links in with the financial bottom line, and more efficient business."
Download a copy of the framework in the new report, Carbon Management for Infrastructure here
For a two-page summary click here
Ends
For more information:
Louisa Perry
Communications Manager 0203 356 8700 / 07970 575193
louisa.perry@atkinsglobal.com
Notes to editors:
Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is one of the world's leading engineering and design consultancies. We have the depth and breadth of technical expertise to respond both to the complex challenges of major infrastructure projects, and the urgent transition to a low-carbon economy. Whether it’s the concept for a new skyscraper, the upgrade of a rail network, the modelling of a flood defence system or the improvement of a management process, we plan, design and enable solutions.
Recent projects include:
• Major infrastructure works, such as the design and programme management of the civil works for the Dubai Metro red and green lines;
• High profile transport planning and urban design – a scheme to deliver a diagonal crossing at London’s Oxford Circus will help solve the problem of pedestrian crowding;
• Key rail projects – helping improve train times on the West Coast Main Line through the design, installation, testing and commissioning of new signalling at Rugby and Nuneaton;
• Multidisciplinary building design – North Road Primary School in Darlington is an exemplar project which raises standards for environmental design and community engagement;
• Vital water and environmental projects – as part of a joint venture, Atkins is providing technical assistance to the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme in Nigeria, which will benefit up to three million people.
Atkins was named among the 20 Best Big Companies to Work For 2009 by The Sunday Times; The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2009; and The Times Top 50 Companies Where Women Want to Work 2009. The company was construction and civil engineering sector winner for the fourth consecutive year in the Target National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2009.
Atkins is the official engineering design services provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.