When assessing the carbon impacts from construction (building or infrastructure) projects, it is important to consider all relevant sources of emissions.
Carbon Impacts of Project Labour
Carbon impacts from labour can often be overlooked. This could relate to impacts from staff involved in the planning, design, construction, and commissioning of a project. All these roles will account for some level of emissions, which should ideally be attributed to a project for a whole life cycle assessment (WLCA) of a project’s impacts.
Carbon impacts could occur from working in an office or remotely, for the project, through the use of electricity or gas for heating and cooling. They could also occur through the transport of labour to and from a construction site. Also, any impacts from site accommodation can be captured through the assessment of bulk fuels or electricity procured.
Carbon impacts from labour usually sit between Module A0 (preconstruction) and Module A5.4 (worker transport), following RICS Whole Life Carbon modules.
Circular Ecology can develop bespoke labour factors and models, which can be integrated into WLCA or included as part of the development of a bespoke carbon library. As labour is often included in project estimate buildups, it can also be integrated into cost and carbon estimating alignment.
Any bespoke labour factors or models can be fully customised to suit different geographical locations, working patterns, travel distances, and more. All data used is fully referenced and traceable and includes any assumptions made.
By developing carbon factors for labour, it ensures better visibility of the full carbon impacts associated with a project. Highlighting any carbon hotspots and providing additional insights and leverage to inform future decarbonisation activities.
Strengthen Your Whole Life Carbon Modelling with Labour Data
Please use the form below to contact us if you’re seeking customised labour factors, modelling support, or integration into existing cost and carbon workflows.
