The right type and application of timber needs to be considered alongside the building typology.
The Hub will continue to explore how to develop platform construction (P-DfMA), and how people can benefit from it, with an aim of developing guides and rule books, but it’s also now looking beyond modern methods of construction (whether you call that platform construction, offsite, or DfMA), at traditional construction as well.It’s viewing things at an ecosystem level and bringing them all together with elements like the Value Toolkit, which is there to help everyone, but will specifically help clients make better, value based decisions using consistent processes and approaches..
The act of combining that with all of the different approaches to delivering buildings means we’re able to progress delivery, while looking towards the long-term as well.The Construction Innovation Hub has a year left, during which time it will need to create impact and get the necessary information to prove value.However, realistically, it’s going to take a decade or more to really embed these approaches, and for parallel developments to share data and information that really demonstrates value.
This will in turn enable clients to make better choices and achieve better delivery of buildings.. Progressing the future of construction.The progress we’ve seen in just the last five years has been significant, and it’s important to acknowledge that we’ve come a long way in a short period of time because we’ve been able to capitalise on the experience of others.
The journey began with the original work with the MOJ, but carried on through to the Autumn Statement, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority beginning to talk about Platforms, and the creation of the Construction Innovation Hub itself.. It’s useful to reflect on how far we’ve come in terms of the significant policy changes and the fact that government departments, who have long been delivering massive infrastructure projects in diverse ways, are now starting to realise the benefits of alignment, harmonisation and rationalisation.
All of this helps to leverage the change going forwards, and also creates a hopeful background around the possibility that we’ll start to make changes quite quickly.Whilst these four bodies have been essential in pushing the agenda for low carbon, there has been some confusion across the industry due to the misalignment of targets and WLCA scopes between them as demonstrated in Figure 3.
LETI has been working in collaboration with other bodies and industry groups to resolve these inconsistencies and have published the ‘Embodied carbon target alignment document’.. Based on this document and the comparison of the current targets defined by LETI, RIBA and GLA, an average performance for non-domestic commercial building performance (A-C) would be to achieve an embodied carbon around 1400kgCO./m², good practice would be below 970kgCO.
and best practice below 550kgCO.This lower threshold is only achievable by refurbished buildings and timber structures that account for carbon sequestration and design with ambitious low carbon specifications.. Bryden Wood aspires to design new buildings that achieve at least the good practice thresholds shown in Figure 4 and where feasible deliver best practice performance.