IMPACT Modelling

10% of all UK emissions are associated with the manufacture and transport of construction materials. However historically measuring this environmental impact, otherwise known as a Life Cycle Assessment or Analysis (LCA), has been expensive and difficult often undertaken by niche consultants and academia.

Simple economics dictate that if fees are high and the assessments are not mandatory that developers will not undertake an LCA. However a new ‘IMPACT’ tool has been developed to make this measurement more affordable and this can also be used to gain credits for both BREEAM and LEED assessments.

EVORA is able to undertake BREEAM and LEED compliant IMPACT modelling.

IMPACT modelling enables the measurement of the environmental impacts and life cycle costs of a building. For example, using IMPACT we can measure embodied carbon as well as operational carbon.

IMPACT is a specification and database for software developers to incorporate into their tools to enable consistent Life Cycle Assessment, but also Life Cycle Costing.

IMPACT works by allowing the user to attribute environmental and cost information to drawn or scheduled items in a Building Information Model (BIM).

Put simply, IMPACT takes quantity information from the BIM and multiplies this by environmental impact and/or cost ‘rates’ to produce an overall impact and cost for the whole (or a selected part) of the design.

The overall aim of IMPACT is to integrate Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costing and BIM . To encourage its use BRE are offering additional BREEAM credits under the Material 1 scoring where IMPACT has been used. An initial review by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) suggests that IMPACT will also satisfy the whole building LCA requirements of LEED.

EVORA is one of the few consultancies both qualified and experienced in the use of IMPACT both in the UK and across the EU. Using IMPACT can help gain up to 4 credits for UK BREEAM assessments and up to 6 credits for international BREEAM assessments. In the case the MAT01 BREEAM issue IMPACT can unlock two exemplar credits.

” I firmly believe that EVORA are leaders in their field and they have opened my eyes to the value that a proactive approach to sustainability can bring.”

Rob HallManaging Director, EPIC Property Asset Management