Database helps lower construction's carbon footprint
The ‘Inventory of Carbon & Energy’ (ICE) database has been developed and launched to record embodied energy and carbon emissions associated with a wide range of materials.
The UK construction sector consumes over 420 tonnes of materials, eight million tonnes of oil, and releases over 29 million tonnes of CO2 every year. The quantity of energy required to process and supply material to the construction site is known as ‘embodied energy’. Professor Geoffrey Hammond and Craig Jones from the Department of Mechanical Engineering have developed an ‘Inventory of Carbon & Energy’ (ICE) - a database for embodied energy and carbon emissions associated with a wide range of materials. "The ICE database was made freely available via an online website. It has attracted significant interest from industry, academics, government departments and agencies," says Professor Hammond. "There were over 5,000 ICE database users worldwide by June 2009."
“The Government’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has asked for permission to signpost the ICE database from its own website," adds Professor Hammond. "Originally devised for the academic community under the Carbon Trust/Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) ‘Carbon Vision Buildings’ Programme, the ICE database has provided data for 'carbon footprint' calculators and studies by organisations like Arup, Best Foot Forward, Buro Happold, Davis Langdon, dcarbon8, the Empty Homes Agency, the Environment Agency, Halcrow, Hydrok UK, Masdar and Wessex Water. The database continues to grow, reflecting advances in knowlege and consumption trends."
Professor Hammond and Craig Jones have also helped the US National Trust for Historic Preservation to develop an embodied energy workshop which was held in Washington DC in June 2009.
Research aims
To measure the energy required to process and supply materials to construction sites. To develop a database of these measurements.
