News
Open source tool will help drive emission reduction
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new research project seeks to develop a tool to identify and reduce carbon in the construction supply chain. The project is a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh Business School and Costain Group and is funded by the Construction Climate Challenge (CCC) initiative hosted by Volvo Construction Equipment. The Carbon Infrastructure Transformation Tool project (CITT) started from the need to solve two key problems facing the construction industry - the pressing need to reduce GHG emissions, and the highly fragmented nature of supply chains. “In large infrastructure projects there are large amounts of emissions at stake. The supply chain is also very fragmented, with many different stakeholders. It’s important to ensure we have a consensus across the whole chain to reduce emissions,” says Dr Matthew Brander, Lecturer at University of Edinburgh Business School and Project Manager for CITT. The research project seeks to develop and implement a tool that will help
construction companies identify and reduce carbon. It will pinpoint opportunities to reduce carbon through innovation and supply chain engagement. It will also enhance the amount of communication and dialogue across the supply chain. “The tool will be integrated into current pricing processes and will allow us to have carbon and cost together. It will put the data in the hands of the right people at the right time in contractors’ processes which will allow them to make decisions to significantly reduce carbon. It will also push carbon further back towards the start of the design processes,” says Damien Canning, Head of Technical Sustainability at Costain Group and Industry Specialist for Carbon Management for CITT. The project is running for three years and the research will focus on carbon accounting methodologies, stakeholder engagement and social barriers to tool adoption, collaborative frameworks for efficient supply chain management, and decision analytics for project design under uncertainty. As the research is undertaken
it will feed back into the development of the tool. There will be close collaboration between the researchers and the construction industry and live tests have been set up with real infrastructure projects. These will take place throughout the project. “The way to really drive this is to develop something with as much input from the industry as possible. This will help to raise standards significantly, and ensure consistency across the industry,” says Damien Canning. After the project is finished the open source tool will be publicly available and free to use, to enhance the possibility for it to be used by as many as possible. “The key is to get the industry to use this tool. Therefore it has to be accessible and easy to understand. You can develop the best tool in the world but if the stakeholders don’t want to use it, it’s not going to have much impact,” says Dr Matthew Brander. Peter Wallin, CCC Research Manager on +46 73 765 63 16
New White Paper - Reducing Energy Consumption from Compressed Air Usage
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CAS has produced a 16-page white paper “Reducing Energy Consumption from Compressed Air Usage” for energy and plant managers responsible for the performance of a compressed air system. It can be downloaded from www.bcas.org.uk It provides an overview of how to save energy in a typical system, highlighting areas where waste occurs, steps to minimise it and then where to go for further information. Says Marion Beaver, Technical Officer at BCAS: “Both energy and plant managers are busy people dealing with a wide range of different building services and processes. It is unlikely that many will be experts in managing compressed air systems, so this white paper is a starting point that aims to provide an informative overview, rather than a detailed guide.” The white paper points out that compressed air typically accounts for 10 per cent of an industrial company’s electricity bill and for some sectors it is far
more. It also urges end users to consider the whole system and points out that every element impacts upon its energy consumption. Marion adds: “While the largest energy consuming component in the system is the air compressor; it is the demand by users, the overall design and how well the system is maintained that will determine the demand placed on the compressor and its energy consumption.” The 16-page guide explores finding and fixing leaks, good housekeeping and staff involvement, pipework, control and maintenance, and advice on treating the compressed air. It concludes by referring the reader to further sources of information. Commenting in the foreword to the white paper, Lord Redesdale, Chief Executive of the Energy Managers Association wrote: “The EMA has a ratio for energy efficiency: 40 per cent is efficient kit, 20 per cent is control systems, and 40 per cent is behaviour change. This report ticks all
Energy Manager Magazine • january/february 2017
these boxes and will be a great tool for Energy Managers who are commissioning systems, maintaining the kit and training staff to use it properly.” A copy of the white paper “Reducing Energy Consumption from Compressed Air Usage” can be downloaded from www.bcas.org.uk