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| Faithful+Gould launches new green division A survey of the worldwide construction industry's most senior leaders by Faithful+Gould suggests that projects' true carbon costs are still not being properly addressed. Nearly 80% of those surveyed believed that carbon from the construction process ('embodied') was routinely ignored because reducing it was not regarded as important or cost-effective. Embedded carbon makes up an average of 15% of a new development's true cost to the environment. Faithful+Gould surveyed 166 leaders in the property and construction sectors from the UK, USA, Middle East and Asia Pacific regions, with the majority (53%) thinking the main reason embodied carbon was not counted was that it currently had no value. Conversely, operational energy reduction was prioritised because it brought visible cost savings and contributed towards a building's 'green' credentials. The vast majority of UK-based respondents thought an easy way to address this locally should be to allow embodied carbon mitigation to count towards a project's onsite renewable energy requirements (the 'Merton Rule'). The research was conducted to launch Atkins’ new sustainability and carbon management division. The division was formed by the merger of Atkins’ current sustainability team and Faithful+Gould’s well established carbon consultancy business. The expanded service, operating under the Faithful+Gould brand, has a greater depth and breadth of skills and creates a new centre of excellence within the UK’s largest engineering and design consultancy. When asked which discipline was best placed within the supply chain to calculate and manage embodied carbon, 42 per cent of survey respondents said mechanical and electrical engineers. A further 22 per cent said it was the architect and only 19 per cent viewed quantity surveyors as the best advisor to manage the embodied carbon budget. write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Construction News :: home page |