Embodied carbon classification scheme for concrete

EmbodiedCarbonClassificationSchemeforConcrete Contents ExecutiveSummary4 1.Introduction6 2.ExistingSchemesfortheEmbodiedCarbonofConcrete8 2.1.TheLowCarbonConcreteRoutemapscheme(UK)9 2.2.Concreteembodiedcarbonratingschemesinothercountries10 2.3.Embodiedcarbonratingschemesforbuildingsandinfrastructure11 2.4.Markettransformationpolicieselsewherealongthesupplychain12 2.5.Relevanttechnicalstandardsandtheirlimitations13 3.TheEmbodiedCarbonClassificationSchemeforConcrete14 3.1.Whatisthepurposeofthescheme?14 3.2.Whatarethekeyfeaturesofthescheme?14 3.3.Whoshouldusetheschemeandhow?16 3.4.Thewayconcreteisproducedandusedvaries.Howisthisaccountedfor?17 4.DesignoftheLCCGSchemeExtension18 4.1.Standards,datasourcesandLCAscopeforembodiedcarboncalculation18 4.2.Shareddeclaredandfunctionalunits20 4.3.Embodiedcarbonratingsegmentation22 4.4.Embodiedcarbonratingbands26 4.5.Carbonation,CCUSandoffsetting27 5.SchemeLimitationsandProposedMitigation28 5.1.Itemsexcludedbytheembodiedcarboncalculation28 5.2.Mitigationsforpossibleunintendedconsequencesofthescheme29 5.3.Potentialfordisadvantagingsometypesofconcrete30 5.4.Possibleunintendedwiderimpactsoftransformingtheconcretemarket31 6.SummaryandRecommendations32 6.1.Summary32 6.2.Recommendations33 7.References34 AppendixA:AnalysisUndertaken35 A.1.ProjectStages35 A.2.Stakeholderworkshops35 A.3.Otheranalyses36 AppendixB:Baseline(EC100)Derivation38 B.1.Mathematicaldescriptionofthebaselinefunction38 B.2.Approachestosettingthebaselineusingavailabledatatypes38 B.3.Practicalrequirementsforthepositionofthebaseline40 B.4.Datasourcesanduncertainty40 GlossaryofTermsandAbbreviations46 2EmbodiedCarbonClassificationSchemeforConcreteRevision1|21July2023|OveArup&PartnersLimited3 Readandunderstandtheaccompanyingusernotesinfullbeforeusingthisfigure G F E D C B EC0 Specifiedcompressivestrengthclass A 650 ExecutiveSummary 600 Cradle-to-gateembodiedcarbonofconcrete(kgCO2e/m) 3 Baseline(EC100) 550 500 450 EC80 400 350 EC60 300 250 TheGreenConstructionBoard’sLowCarbonConcreteGrouprecentlydevelopedanembodiedcarbonclassificationschemeforconcrete,intendedtohelpusersunderstandthecarbonintensity ofconcreteproductscurrentlyavailableintheUK.Theschemeprovidesacommoncalculation methodology,underpinnedbyshareddefinitionsandassumptions,helpingalleviatethecurrentmarketconfusionoverthedefinitionof‘low’,or‘lower’carbonconcrete.TheschemeiskeptuptodatebyperiodicsurveysofthecarboncontentofconcretesoldintheUK. Thisreportdescribesthebasisofanextensiontothisembodiedcarbonclassificationscheme,whichaimstoprovideasetoffixedembodied carbonratingbandsforconcrete(labelledA-GinFigure1).Thesecanhelpbodiesimplementmarketinterventionstostimulatedemandforlowercarbonconcrete,incaseswheredynamicratingbandswouldbehardtouse. Insummary,thisadditionalworkcomprisesthefollowingitems: –Abaselineembodiedcarbonreferencevaluefor eachcompressivestrengthclassofconcrete. –Staticembodiedcarbonratingbandsforconcreteproducts,setatdifferentlevelsforconcretes ofdifferentcompressivestrengthclasses. –Additionalsupportingnoteson theuseofthescheme. TheoutcomesoftheworkaredescribedinanaccompanyingbrochuretitledEmbodiedCarbonClassificationSchemeforConcrete. 200 EC40 150 EC20 100 50 C100/115 C90/105 C80/95 C70/85 C60/75 C55/67 C50/60 C45/55 C40/50 C35/45 C32/40 C30/37C28/35 C25/30 C20/25 C16/20 C12/15 C8/10 0 Figure1:Illustrationoftheembodiedcarbonclassificationschemefornormalweightconcrete. “Substantiallyreducingthecarbonfootprintofthestructuresandinfrastructurewedesignandbuildiscrucialintermsofaddressingtheexistentialclimatecrisisandnaturelosswearefacingglobally.Concreteisthemostwidelyusedmaterialintheworld,responsibleforabout8%ofCO2emissionsonitsown.Weneed toestablishfuture-proofapproachestowardsusingitmoreefficiently,specifyingandprocuringlowercarbon “AllproductswithintheTransformingFoundationIndustry (TFI)Challengehavebenefittedfromthesharingofknowledgeontheirownpathstonetzero.Itishopedthatthethinkinginthisreportwillhelpnotjustthedecarbonisationoftheconcretesector,butstimulatethoughtinothersectorslookingtoproductstandardstohelpinthetransformationoftheirownmarkets.” BruceAdderley, TFIChallengeDirector,UKRI 4EmbodiedCarbonClassificationSchemeforConcrete concretealternatives,whilealsopromotingmarkettransformationpoliciestoacceleratethewidestandmostrapiddecarbonisationofthewholeconcreteindustry. Thisreportbuildsonexistingworkintheindustryandpresentsarobustframeworkforembodiedcarbon classificationofconcretethatcanaidwiththepathwaytoanetzeroindustry.” DrFragkoulisKanavaris, LeadingConcreteMaterialsExpert,Arup 5 1 Introduction InnovateUKengagedAruptofurtherdevelopanembodiedcarbon(EC)classificationschemeforconcrete.TheschemewasoriginallydevelopedbytheGreenConstructionBoard’sLowCarbon ConcreteGroup(LCCG),andpublishedinSection1oftheLowCarbonConcreteRoutemap(LCCR),titled‘Settingthebenchmark’[6]. Currently,thereisnoshareddefinitionof‘lowcarbonconcrete’withintheconcreteindustry,makingitdifficultforbuyers,designers,andspecifierstodistinguishbetweendifferentconcretepr