Costain, the infrastructure solutions company, has created a tool to identify and ‘design out’ potential carbon hotspots at the earliest possible stage of infrastructure projects.

Costain is using the Carbon Design Tool at the design stage to forecast potential carbon emissions hotspots during an infrastructure project. The forecasted emissions are benchmarked in line with the latest RICS guidance, enabling a comprehensive and robust comparison of design alternatives. This enables Costain’s project teams to reduce carbon as early as possible in the project lifecycle, such as by adopting alternative construction methods, implementing design modifications or substituting or reusing specific materials or products.

The tool is displayed via an online dashboard, with the data presented in a user-friendly, accessible manner to ensure widespread use across a project team, not just sustainability or carbon management specialists.

The Carbon Design Tool has been applied to Costain’s projects in aviation, energy and water and is now being rolled out across all of Costain’s sectors.

It has been successfully applied to Costain’s design for a new baggage handling system for Heathrow Airport, where the tool identified steel as a major carbon hotspot and subsequently helped Costain deliver a design with a 26% reduction in embodied carbon compared with traditional methods.

The Carbon Design Tool is the latest commitment from Costain to invest in new systems and tools to deliver sustainable outcomes on its infrastructure projects, and works in conjunction with Costain’s Environmental Construction Data Tracker, which simplifies carbon emissions reporting during the construction phase.

Combined, the two technologies provide a holistic, end-to-end carbon management system for customers and supply chain partners, creating a continuous cycle of improvement and insight-based decision making around decarbonisation.

Nanette Heystek, principal sustainability engineer, Costain commented:

“Costain is committed to creating a sustainable future and we’re investing in tools and technologies to help our customers and supply chain understand and reduce carbon emissions from the earliest stage of a project whilst taking into account other factors such as cost, efficiency, and project timelines.

“We’ve already been successful in improving the accuracy and frequency of environmental data reporting during the delivery phase of our infrastructure projects. The Carbon Design Tool’s ability to forecast emissions at the design stage will make it easier for projects to adopt more sustainable, lower carbon methods from the outset and support a decarbonised UK.”

The Carbon Design Tool is aligned to Costain’s certification as a PAS2080 organisation, the leading standard for carbon management, which supports the principles of promoting industry-wide collaboration on sustainable initiatives.

An example of how the Carbon Design Tool offers project teams construction methods with lower forecasted carbon emissions.