When designing sustainable buildings amid a climate emergency, time is of the essence. Yet, in the early stages of concept design, complex assessments are often needed to understand the impact of specification decisions and can result in extended time frames. 

Our new BDP Preliminary Carbon Calculator has been designed to deliver greater clarity during RIBA Stage 1/2A by accurately estimating the embodied carbon of developing design options without the need for BIM models. By allowing design teams to select the specification of key elements in the building’s construction, the calculator uses data from past and current projects to generate an estimation for the embodied carbon per metre squared.

Once fully developed, it will be capable of generating sector-specific outcomes and contribute to a vital evidence base for the carbon impact of materials – improving the carbon literacy of our designers and providing clearer outputs for our clients.