This guidance is primarily aimed at public procurers involved in a range of contracting agreements related to building materials and products. This includes the purchase of building materials for construction works, but may also extend to material extraction, manufacturing, building, retrofit, refurbishment, design, interior fit out, and end-of-life demolition or deconstruction processes. 

This tool allows architects and designers to analyze and estimate the carbon equivalent of emissions associated with all aspects of the project. The Zero Carbon Tool gives an overall picture of how key decisions made at early stages of design can impact the project's total carbon use.

Whole life carbon assessment 2nd edition will enable professionals to make prudent decisions to limit the whole life carbon impact of buildings and infrastructure. It facilitates carbon measurement from the production of construction materials to the design, construction and eventual end of life of built assets.

With approximately 70% of the UK’s non-residential building stock constructed before the year 2000, if energy and carbon targets are to be achieved, and the UK’s 2050 net zero targets realised, significant energy efficiency and embodied carbon reductions are needed. As a result, much of the sector will have to undergo some form of retrofit by 2050.

The increased attention paid to resource efficiency, sustainable use of natural resources and sustainable buildings has raised awareness of the potential of the building sector to contribute to Europe’s goals in these areas.

The Resource Efficiency Roadmap identifies the building sector as one of the sectors that is key to addressing the challenges of energy, climate change and resource efficiency. The Roadmap recognises that increased waste recycling, among other measures, will contribute to a competitive construction sector.

Gypsum is widely used in the construction sector, and its worldwide consumption has been increasing for several decades. Depending on the lifetime of the used gypsum products, an increase of gypsum in construction and demolition waste follows. Especially against the background of a circular economy, the recycling of waste gypsum is of growing importance. However, the use of recycled gypsum only makes sense if it is environmentally friendly.

Thanks to funding from Innovate UK, in collaboration with the NICER programme, a new ‘toolkit’ has been developed as part of the ASBP-led ‘Delivering Innovative Steel ReUse ProjecT‘ (DISRUPT).

This guide is part of the Training Pack for waste prevention on construction projects. It provides specific, best practice advice to help with the prevention and reduction of waste as well as recycling of materials on construction sites. In the construction industry site waste may be managed by a third party or parties may be responsible for managing their own waste; this guide is aimed at both groups. 

With the built environment responsible for almost 40% of energy-related carbon emissions globally, we must find new ways to design and construct our cities.  

Reuse of materials is a key principle within a circular economy, ensuring material value is maintained for as long as possible. Use of reclaimed materials in construction has the potential to reduce the embodied carbon of construction, minimising the need for virgin material extraction and production as well as reducing volumes of waste generated and other negative externalities.