The Truth about Carbon Zero

With our 1% Better Every Day mission honing in on ‘What is a Zero Carbon Home’ we can’t help but raise the question of can a zero carbon house actually exist? As we covered in our previous blog, a zero-carbon house is a house that doesn’t add to the carbon dioxide already in the environment. However, is this achievable?

Is Carbon Zero Achievable?

In short – no – it is time to face the truth that there is no such thing as a zero carbon home. Construction of any property will inevitably produce waste. However, the concept of ‘net zero’ does allow for carbon to be produced, it just must then be offset in some way, be it through the planting of enough trees to absorb said amount, by using the property’s waste to produce energy or by creating more renewable energy than it needs. Therefore, is it time to recognise that focusing all our efforts into producing ‘zero carbon homes’ may be misleading, it may also be distracting from where our efforts need to lie.

In 2019 The UK became the first nation to pass a law which states we must be net zero by 2050. This requires the UK to, by law, abolish greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of this century, or at least carbon offset all those produced. Because the construction industry plays such a huge part in producing greenhouse emissions, those in the industry are, understandably, concerned about the 2050 target and doing all they can to achieve it. This may be why we have become so fixated on building ‘Zero Carbon’ homes.

Low Carbon

A recent article in The New Civil Engineer magazine (February 2023) entitled ‘Shrinking Footprints’ highlights the issue with focusing purely on zero carbon building, particularly whilst our nation is already facing financial difficulties. The article, written by Catherine Moore states that ‘annual global spending on physical assets needed to achieve net zero’ is ‘£7.4 trillion’ which is simply not realistic. It continues by saying that according to the ICE’s ‘Financing Low Carbon Infrastructure Report’ it is ‘better to talk in terms of low carbon, rather than net zero infrastructure.’ Focusing on low carbon is more sustainable – with climate change needing urgent addressing, all infrastructure should be low carbon. The quality of the UK’s infrastructure means that it can ‘last for centuries and with that in mind we need to make sure that it is clean, resilient, sustainable and helps to deliver those net zero ambitions.’ By taking this approach we are less focused on the requirement of offsetting and more dedicated to producing long-lasting, future-proof infrastructure.

The article goes on to highlight that whilst new, low carbon infrastructure does have multiple advantages, not just for the planet but also to our economic growth, we also need to recognise that building new is not always the best option. As construction emits so much carbon, we need to consider whether or not it is the right answer. Before building new we should analyse if we can, instead, reuse what is already there. We are seeing new developments cropping up continuously, but more often than not these are located in green field sites – the sites providing an easy, blank canvas to build upon. Developers tend to steer away from finding sites within an already densely populated area due to the planning constraints and red tape involved and this needs to change.

How Can Engineers Help?

The ICE’s Financing Low Carbon Infrastructure report’ calls for a ‘greater collaboration between civil engineers and financial institutions.’ Civil Engineers are involved right from the very beginning of the design process and have a key insight into how infrastructure might respond to climate change and what future proofing should look like. This is exactly one of the reasons why we have begun our 1% Better Every Day mission. We are in the best position to determine whether a proposed design will have environmental longevity and whether the costs involved are realistic. Our team is dedicated to researching eco-friendly, low carbon options and alternatives to regular building materials and look forward to sharing our findings.

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Catch up with the full ‘New Civil Engineer’ article in February’s edition here.