Intelligent Carbon Calculator for Education (ICCE): Designing Whole Life Carbon EdTech for People- and Planet-Centred Needs

Around 25% of UK carbon emissions are linked to the built environment. Building materials are a significant contribution to this strain on the planet: steel and cement alone account for around 15% of global carbon emissions. This can be understood in terms of embodied carbon, which means the intensive carbon footprint resulting from material manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal during the construction process.

Governments around the world are now requiring Whole Life Carbon Assessments (WLCAs) as a way of reducing the environmental burden of construction. WLCAs involve calculating a building's carbon emissions across its entire lifecycle, offering valuable insights into reducing its environmental impact. In the UK, professional bodies are now requiring new recruits in the built environment to understand WLCAs, but the universities generally lack the teaching experience and expertise in this area to meet this need.

ICCE will leverage Education Technology (EdTech) to address this whole life carbon skills shortage and address the demand for sustainability skills in the construction industry. Through a series of cutting-edge design workshops, the project team will identify what students need from a successful EdTech tool in this area.

This project lays the groundwork for a whole life carbon innovation to rapidly enter the UK EdTech market (~£3.7 billion). The resultant tool promises to accelerate understanding and take up of whole life carbon approaches among the next generation of construction professionals, stimulating demand for a lower carbon built environment across the supply chain.