Our literature review for the City of Sydney uncovered a wealth of information to measure and reduce embodied carbon in the built environment and embrace circular economy strategies. And we were encouraged to identify many projects where this is already happening! Our report, attached here, summarises the most important tools and metrics available and projects underway.
Like the City of Sydney, we’d love to see more projects that bring these two concepts together. Our report identifies ways to encourage this. They include:
- Sharing data and strategies across projects
- Getting alongside contractors and suppliers early to build in the ‘right’ embodied carbon and circular targets and processes
- Approaching projects ‘holistically’ (as a system). The project’s context and outcomes and the systems involved matter. Understanding this helps identify opportunities for circular strategies and embodied carbon to support one other and the trade-offs involved.
Photo: Mudassir Ali