It’s about being a good engineer.'.

Build Less: optimise the building’s form, structure, structural grid, WWR and DfMA components; recommend the use of durable materials, design-out basements and false ceilings (exposed soffit); design spaces which are adaptable and can be easily deconstructed..Build Clever: specify low carbon materials with a focus on the recycled content of steel and concrete and the use of timber; maximise the recycled content of finishes, use reclaimed floors and explore system’s rental; where possible use low GWP refrigerants and avoid VRF systems..

Build Efficiently: implement innovative construction strategies such as Modern methods of Construction (MMC) and use a DfMA approach to reduce waste onsite..Offset: Any remaining carbon should be offset via recognised carbon offset schemes.Offsets used should be publicly disclosed.. An example of design strategies that follow the proposed embodied carbon hierarchy is shown in Figure 5..

Step-by-step hierarchy for net zero embodied carbon.Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA).

As identified above, DfMA is an essential part of the strategy to achieve net zero embodied and operational carbon.

Bryden Wood’s Platform approach to Design for Manufacture and Assembly (P-DfMA) is a system that delivers efficiencies across the entire construction process by applying the principles of manufacturing.. Bryden Wood have taken the P-DfMA approach for the design of multiple projects, like Landsec’s The Forge office development in London, where we have followed the hierarchies described above.., but rather the choices we make upfront relating to the design, manufacture and assembly process..

There isn’t a hierarchy with any of this, she says, mentioning the term ‘modular’ construction.Each industrialised construction technique is just another tool in the toolkit, with varying degrees of suitability depending on the particular scenario.. She also raises the point that some people feel threatened by the industrialised construction terminology, as a result of not having the necessary skill set.

As a result, they become very opposed.This presents an additional challenge.. Marks says it’s particularly problematic due to the siloed nature of the ecosystem.