Access Construction Market Insight reports
Access Construction Market Insight reports
17 October 2022
In our latest insight article, Joseph Gorman, Associate – Cost Management, explores how cost management can further increase transparency, as well as enhance and promote net zero carbon capabilities on capital works programmes.
With a 2019 World Green Building Council report stating that building construction and operation contributes 39% of the world’s carbon emissions, industry and organisations alike continue to recognise the critical nature and value of adopting decarbonisation strategies and green technologies, to realise sustainable benefits for our
communities (1). It is important to note that carbon emissions in this context are often broadly categorised into operational carbon and embodied carbon. Operational carbon refers to the carbon load created in running a building (building energy consumption), while embodied carbon focuses on the load created in the production, transportation, installation, maintenance and disposal of building materials.
Looking to the future, embodied carbon will account for almost half of total emissions from new construction between 2019 and 2050, and presents a particularly significant opportunity for the industry to decarbonise (2).
Running parallel to this, cost management continues to evolve, diversify and integrate alongside net- zero policies, to optimise the cost and carbon impacts of construction projects.With the introduction of the International Cost Management Standard (ICMS) 3, the profession has set a global standard for defining, benchmarking, and reporting on cost and carbon, thus providing a consistent method of measurement.
Undoubtedly, the construction industry is currently facing a seismic challenge as we collectively strive towards net zero emissions. Combined with investment, the considerations below explore how cost management capabilities and integration of service ties in with clients’ net zero carbon strategy and transformation.
Transparency of cost is fundamental to any informed decision-making and briefing process with regards to capital expenditure. Therefore, it is crucial that comparative cost benchmarking is established and utilised to provide a carbon price baseline when defining a business case. A core utilisation of cost management, benchmarking will act as a key enabler for brief development and budget establishment, as well as determining a return-on-investment (ROI) for net zero prioritisation.
Working collaboratively with the project team, briefing decisions can be influenced at programme and project definition to ensure appropriate allocation of carbon capital investment, inherently reducing a project’s carbon footprint. Overall, this is conducive to cost optimisation by avoiding the potential for delays to a design programme – i.e., mitigating the need for retrospective redesign or incorporating new briefing requirements. Similarly, cost managing the design through the respective gateways, it is critical for the cost and carbon implications to be co-ordinated in unison. This contributes to a better understanding of the design and highlights the most carbon effective and value-driven project solution.
Equally important is the long-term carbon assessment and inherent value of an asset. As such, an effective cost management solution will advise on the full project life cycle. This is not solely limited to capital expenditure, but also to the reduction of both initial and future costs (renewal, operational, maintenance and eventual end of life). Life cycle costing helps to facilitate the long-term decision –making process, with further transparency surrounding the cost and environmental performance of an asset, which enhances ROI and the ability to explore opportunities for carbon offsetting.
Value management workshops can aid proper life cycle costing, serving as an early forum to understand and determine how the overarching net zero objectives are being defined, and then implemented into a construction programme. These workshops drive
collaboration across internal and external stakeholders, thus encouraging improved communication, innovation and the use of technological advancements, coupled with higher performing net zero design and construction processes (3).
As highlighted by the CEFC, cost effective solutions are available instantly to substantially reduce embodied carbon. The findings from this report found that initiatives being implemented, could achieve 5-18% reduction in embodied carbon whilst also achieving a 0.4-3% reduction in material costs for typical building and infrastructure projects.
A systematic cost management approach can also be taken in the form of appraisals for specific design options, such as utilising control strategies for Building Management Systems (BMS) or exploring cost options for a more effective and efficient HVAC strategy. Similarly at a component level, cost management partnered with the design team can explore, analyse and evaluate their whole life cost function with more carbon efficient alternatives being implemented. Some examples include MEP plant efficiency, low carbon concrete alternatives, LED lighting etc.
The ‘Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment’ of the World Green Building Council highlights the requirement for deep collaboration across the entire value chain, and radical transformation in the way buildings are designed, procured, built, occupied and deconstructed.
A clear and concise procurement model will ensure that all asset owners, stakeholders and disciplines are aligned and communicating the same overarching objectives, enhancing the reliability of carbon information and ensuring procured data is being extracted accordingly.
Clients are aware of the need for a cost-effective bidding strategy combined with the prioritisation of net zero, and this is where cost management adds additional value. It also puts emphasis on the requirement for robust tendering processes and procedures, to ensure that the supply chain can be correctly informed, evaluated and awarded, alongside the traditional criteria. For example, over the last few decades, OH&S has become even more critically important in construction and rightly so. An emphasis on OH&S obligations in procurement encourages suppliers to take responsibility for understanding the requirements of a client and for ensuring that what they provide is safe for users (4). Similarly, by increasing the focus on decarbonisation and potentially including a heavier weighting on environmental criteria, the most economically advantageous vendor can be selected. Further, this will inherently encourage innovation, a competitive environment, and a more sustainable supply chain for a forward outlook.
Applying proactive cost controls will ensure reporting from a clear baseline and deliver confidence in overall project performance, particularly around carbon neutral factors. Effective cost management in client organisations, as part of their reporting, adds value by introducing key performance indicators on net zero specifics, such as:
Through up-to-date and accessible data, cost management can further enhance carbon measurement, as well as bringing consistency in the capture, analytics, and reporting of carbon data.
Alongside a robust roadmap, cost management can provide a programmatic approach to net zero, and in turn enable clients to further improve transparency and analyse decarbonisation with a commercial interpretation. A clear procurement strategy, established benchmarking, whole life cost considerations and project control integration will ensure that construction programmes outperform carbon baselines in a cost-effective way.
[1] World Green Building Council - Global Status Report 2017
[2] CEFC - Australian buildings and infrastructure: Opportunities for cutting embodied carbon
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