November 12 2007
The Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management(ECCM) has developed a free and easy-to-use Building Materials Carbon Calculator, which will analyse the embodied CO2 in the materials used in a building. The tool is the first of its kind and will help decision makers select the best material to minimise a building’s carbon footprint.
Richard Tipper, Director at ECCM explained: “This simple to use tool is designed to clear the haze surrounding calculating a building’s materials footprint. We receive lots of enquiries from the construction industry, all wanting to understand and analyse the CO2. The calculator allows users to type in the quantities for the materials used in each element of a building and then assess the associated CO2 using scientifically backed emissions data.”
The building elements compared within the tool are: foundations, external walls, roof, cladding, floors, insulation, internal walls, windows and doors.
The free tool can be downloaded from: http://www.eccm.uk.com/calculators.html