Cundall is pleased to announce that the Construction Industry Council’s (CIC) Carbon Assessment Tool (CAT) is now integrated into the BEAM Plus NB V.1.1 and 1.2.

Following the launch of the tool in December 2019, the CAT has been introduced into BEAM Plus NB V1.1 and 1.2 to further facilitate the understanding of embodied carbon in construction materials and carbon emissions created by the on-site construction process.

The aim is to encourage more users from the industry to use the tool and increase the amount of building projects assessed by it. The tool will also raise awareness about the need to reduce embodied carbon in construction projects, which will help the Hong Kong Government’s aims of reducing the total emission target by 26-36% by 2030.

To encourage more industry users, the BEAM Society and CIC with Cundall’s assistance have come up with the following credit requirements:

• One credit for demonstrating the embodied carbon for (a) permanent works – substructure and (b) permeant works – superstructure have been studied through the “design input” module for the CIC Carbon Assessment Tool or similar assessment tools.
• One bonus credit for demonstrating the materials used for (a) permanent work – substructure and (b) permanent works – superstructure have a low embodied carbon in the as-built design than the original design, with the result of the study generated from the “construction input” module of the CIC Carbon Assessment Tool or similar assessment tools.

An incentive has also been placed to motivate users to study the embodied carbon of their project during the construction stage.

Jonathan Yau, Associate Director at Cundall and Project Director of the CIC Carbon Assessment Tool Development project, said: “This is a major milestone for the Carbon Assessment Tool since the tool encourages a wider group of peers in the industry to use it. We cannot be happier for the integration of CAT and BEAM Plus NB V1.1 and 1.2 as we have worked really hard to make sure it is integrated seamlessly. It’s been our honour to deliver this industry-leading tool and help contribute towards Hong Kong’s carbon reduction target. This CAT development journey undoubtedly aligns with Cundall’s ambition to be agents of change for a sustainable world. We are so proud to be part of the integration team.”

Cundall has developed and implemented this first standardised carbon assessment tool which aims to create a common platform to evaluate the carbon performance of buildings and infrastructure in Hong Kong from raw material extraction to the end of construction.

It is hoped that the tool will drive the industry forward on the decarbonisation journey and facilitate the industry to realise the savings that can be made.