CIRCULAR DISRUPTION: NABERS has released one of the toughest sustainability measurement tools in the climate positive kit – embodied carbon.
Katie Eyles, sector lead embodied carbon for NABERS, who will be speaking at the Circular Disruption Forum on 12 November, says the challenge now is gathering the data, but it will take a while for results to come through the system.
“You have to collect that during construction, and people just haven’t done that because it hasn’t been necessary before now.”
Among the challenges to date are the various methods used to gather embodied carbon data.
“We’ve had a long period of a lot of people using slightly different measurement methods. Or maybe they’ve used a mix of emission factors that may not be correct for the local market, may be out of date, or may be measuring a different scope of activities.
“Now we have one standard method that everyone can use.”
This enables comparison with the rest of the market. Without a consistent method, it’s not possible to compare, and much harder to set targets or limits.
“It’s getting everyone on the same page and understanding the what the reasons are for doing things this way,” Eyles says.
The new tool makes the accounting practical, and the next step is implementation.
What challenges lie ahead? At Circular Disruption you’ll find out.