The Environment Agency (EA) looks after over 5000 kilometers of coastline and main rivers principally in England and is responsible, in particular, for flood and coastal risk management. To fulfil its goal of promoting low carbon solutions it created the ‘ERIC’ Carbon Planning Tool, which provides a mechanism for assessing carbon over the whole life of built assets.
The EA’s ‘e:Mission’ target plan sets out targets until 2020. This includes reducing capital carbon by 40 percent and operational carbon by 45 percent. The aim is to promote low carbon solutions and incentivize the Environment Agency’s suppliers through carbon target setting.
“The Environment Agency’s Carbon Planning Tool is very much suited to the work that we do, in terms of flood and coastal risk management,” says Katherine Ibbotson, Carbon Planning Manager at the Environment Agency.
The ‘ERIC’ Carbon Planning Tool provides a mechanism for assessing carbon over the whole life of built assets. It enables solution options through development of whole life carbon models and it captures data that will allow the EA to set supplier carbon targets and support the promotion of reduced carbon solutions on the EA’s construction works.
“We are always challenged with trying to reduce our environmental footprint, and the Carbon Planning Tool is very important to us to be able to do that on a whole life basis. We’re trying to promote that one should not just look at your project, but look at the whole life in terms of the operational side of the asset as well. That’s why using tools, such as whole life carbon tools, are important,” says Katherine Ibbotson.
About the Environment Agency
The Environment Agency is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the UK government’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.
See Katherine Ibbotson talking about the Environment Agency’s ‘ERIC’ Carbon Planning Tool in the 15th episode of Construction Climate Talks here: https://goo.gl/UL3aug.
The episode is also released on CCC YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The Construction Climate Talks series by the Construction Climate Challenge initiative highlights some of the most important issues in climate sustainability today. See all the previous episodes here: https://goo.gl/YMEDPE.
