Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Much has been done to tackle operational carbon in a building’s lifecycle, however, the carbon emitted in the production and transportation of materials (embodied carbon) used in construction along with excavation and demolition material is more challenging to address.

The current Building Regulations apply Nearly Zero-Energy Building standards (NZEB) to new buildings, whereas standards relating the level of embodied carbon currently operate on a voluntary basis. This is set to change with the introduction of the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive which is one of a number of measures that the EU is taking in response to the climate emergency.

Leading on sustainability is central to the Programme for Government and a number of key Government strategies and action plans, as well as Ireland’s commitment to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda by 2030.

Climate Action Plan

The Climate Action Plan 2023 considerably increases the emphasis on Green Public Procurement (GPP). Key messages in the Public Sector Leading by Example chapter included “that the public sector will fully implement GPP”. Key performance indicators for 2025 included developing and implementing a new Green Public Procurement Strategy and action plan, based on a review of Green Tenders.

A section (10.3.7) specifically on GPP reiterated that Green Tenders will be reviewed and stated that GPP training will be provided for public bodies; that reporting on GPP by government departments will continue, but also that ‘we will identify reporting structures and develop reporting guidelines for public bodies in 2023/2024’; and that the Cement Task Force shall prepare a policy to ‘facilitate public bodies to incorporate the principle of low carbon construction methods and materials and whole life-cycle analysis approaches in all publicly procured or supported projects. Public bodies’ consistency with the policy will be examined under the SEAI reporting framework.’

The Industry chapter clarifies that the new Green Public Procurement Strategy and action plan will identify an appropriate monitoring and reporting protocol ‘that includes the monitoring of the implementation of low carbon construction in public tenders and grant schemes’.

Climate Action Plan 2024 explains that ‘Through specification of lower carbon cements in public procurement, the State will aid market development and the supply of lower carbon concrete and/or cement products’.

In the Irish public works context we are striving to lead by example with regards to Green Public Procurement (GPP).

In 2022, the Office of Government Procurement led the development of GPP Criteria Search, an online search tool that allows the user to rapidly find, select, and download the Irish Green Public Procurement criteria relevant to a specific procurement project.

In September 2023 the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications launched a public consultation on a draft Green Public Procurement Strategy and Action Plan. This Strategy and Action Plan will help steer greater efforts in implementing Green Public Procurement across the public sector.

In January 2024, the OGP published a comprehensive reference resource for Sustainable Public Procurement in Ireland, titled ‘Opportunities and approaches for Sustainable Public Procurement: A reference for public procurement practitioners and policy makers’.

This reference is intended to be of use to procurement practitioners and budget-holders in the public-sector, as well as to policy developers interested in how public procurement can be used strategically to address key sustainability policy objectives. This reference will be a valuable resource for those involved in public procurement and for those considering utilising public procurement to help implement sustainability policies.

Embodied Carbon

Government is working with industry stakeholders to reduce embodied carbon and promote the circular economy in construction and the built environment. One of the initiatives currently being developed will see mandatory reporting of embodied carbon on public works projects introduced into the Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF) over the coming years.

The lack of empirical data on embodied carbon for construction materials in this jurisdiction poses a challenge currently but this will change as demand increases.

The International Cost Management Standard (ICMS) has been incorporated into new cost control and carbon reporting templates published under the CWMF. The cost element of the templates are for use on all new capital works projects (commencing stage 1 of the CWMF) from 1st January 2024.

ICMS aims to provide global consistency in classifying, defining, measuring, recording, analysing, presenting and comparing costs and carbon emissions of construction projects and constructed assets. ICMS is a high-level classification system.

Nine templates have been provided to facilitate reporting on public works project across various sectors of the construction industry.

The new templates provide for reporting on embodied carbon during construction as an option. It is not mandatory to report on and/or monitor embodied carbon at this stage.

The new templates can be found in Standard Forms for Cost Planning & Cost Control on the CWMF website.

The measurement and reporting on embodied carbon will also drive the following broader government objectives with respect to the construction and built environment sectors, including

• Increased use of offsite design and manufacture
• Refurbishment and retrofitting of existing stock
• Tackling dereliction and bringing stock back into occupancy
• Increase use of Construction & Demolition Waste as a secondary construction material

The reporting structure provided by ICMS will enable decisions to be taken on the basis of the total cost of ownership including the environmental impacts of decisions with respect to material selection, foundation design and energy use and production.

Combined with the data handling capacity of BIM and the availability of greater levels of information on materials and building components, contracting authorities and their project teams can review a project’s environmental standing at all stages of its delivery lifecycle with ICMS.

The information recorded can be used in the lifecycle of the asset to support decisions around sustainability and the circular economy.

BIM

A phased programme for the adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) across the Exchequer-funded element of the NDP commenced in January of this year. Phase 1 sees BIM requirements included in the scope of services for construction design teams who are to be engaged on projects with a value in excess of €100m. Over the next four years this will cascade down to cover the majority of projects both in the design and construction stages.

BIM is a key enabler in the drive to net zero carbon construction projects. It has the potential to transform the design, construction and management of construction projects, and the operation and maintenance of the asset after completion.

The OGP, in partnership with the Build Digital Project, is developing templates and guidance material to guide contracting authorities in setting BIM requirements for their consultancy engagements. This will ensure a consistent approach to its application across the public sector.

Sustainability and Circularity

The EU notes that “the built environment has significant impact on many sectors of the economy. Local jobs and quality of life”

The built environment accounts for

• C. 50% of extracted materials
• 35% of EU’s total waste generation
• Greenhouse gases (GHG) from material extraction, manufacturing of construction products and construction (including renovation) accounts for an estimated 5 -12% of GHG nationally in member states.

The built environment sector accounted for 11.1% of Ireland’s greenhouse gases in 2022, down from 12.3% in 2021

Efficiencies could save up to 80% of those emissions.

Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) handbook on Green Public Procurement in Construction Projects

In April 2023, the IGBC published a handbook on Implementation of Circularity, WLC and LCC in Public Construction Projects, which introduces some of the key green indicators that should be applied within the procurement of public construction projects, in addition to the energy efficiency requirements in Building Regulations Technical Guidance Documents Part L.

Renovation and Demolition

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive will see the need to declare the Global Warming Potential of buildings.

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive charts a course for the EU to achieve a climate neutral building stock by 2050. It is part of the EU’s ‘Fit for 55’ climate package. Buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of Europe’s energy consumption and 36% of its CO2 emissions. Under the EPBD, each Member State will establish a national building renovation plan to ensure the renovation of the national stock into a highly energy efficient and decarbonised building stock by 2050.

Following the introduction of energy performance rules in national building codes, buildings consume only half as much energy today, compared to typical buildings from the 1980s. Within the Construction and Demolition sector, greater resource efficiency and resource re-use could avoid the need for millions of tonnes of virgin raw materials per annum, as well as reducing the carbon intensity of our built environment.

The development of the next iteration of this Strategy will support and enhance existing circular initiatives on the part of the sector, for example through the work of the EPA’s reorganised Circular Economy Programme.

Reducing the volume, and associated costs, of Construction and Demolition waste could also contribute to greater affordability, particularly in relation to the high-density residential sector

The use of the sustainability assessment and reporting framework Level(s) to integrate life-cycle assessment in public procurement and the EU sustainable finance framework will promote circularity principles throughout the life cycle of buildings.

Next Steps

As we prepare to move to the next stage, the OGP have provided next steps for users of the CWMF which may be summarised as:

• The Client sets organisational goals and then project goals around green public procurement and sustainability
• The design stage affords the best opportunity to reduce the embodied carbon levels through choosing materials for the structure and fabric that have the lowest embodied carbon levels.
• Reporting of embodied carbon to become mandatory at project review gates in the same way as capital costs are currently reported and reviewed once generic datasets for commonly specified construction materials are available.
• Sustainable design requirements set out in the brief and scope of service requirements for the design team to follow through to the materials and energy performance specifications for the construction tender.
• Oversight of the construction stage is critical to ensure that the specification is delivered upon and sustainability targets met.