Wednesday, 20 November 2013

Design for Change

In my introduction I stressed that much is made of climate change mitigation but I feel that little is understood of the behind the scenes work which is being done in major companies across the world.
There is a huge shift towards innovative design and manufacture to cut carbon by (in the construction industry) up to 50% by 2025 as detailed by the Construction 2025 report (UKGov, 2013).
Taken from the Laing O'Rourke 2013 Annual Review
For example, one of the leaders of this approach is Laing O'Rourke who are championing Zero-Carbon construction, adopting the process of Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA). While I do not fully understand the processes which are involved, it basically involves an early intervention into the design phase and offsite manufacture which reduces energy consumption through advanced thermal efficiency, eliminating waste while cutting the construction process by roughly 30% through concept to completion. 
They state that this has cut carbon emissions by up to 50% although there is little scientific evidence to support this at the moment. 
However if their facts are true and is backed up with scientific evidence, this could be a major step forward to a green future and a better outcome for temperature scenarios. 
Let's hope all construction companies adopt this method soon as it seems promising.
In the interests of UCL the DfMA process is currently being used in the process of building the Francis Crick Institute.

 Until next time...  

 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210099/bis-13-955-construction-2025-industrial-strategy.pdf

 http://annualreview2013.laingorourke.com/downloads/pdfs/laing-o-rourke-annual-review-2013.pdf

 http://www.laingorourke.com/engineering-the-future/product-and-process-innovation.aspx

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2 comments:

  1. Unknown21 November 2013 at 04:24

    These are very interesting, positive points raised in your blog. Unfortunately a valid distrust of big oil companies hijacking the green movement has some validity though. It was the oil companies promoted oil consumption over other options with the advent of the automobile at the turn of the 20th century. Unfortunately, big corporations can wield tremendous power in narrowing socetal choices with their huge resources and government lobbies.

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  2. Unknown21 November 2013 at 10:37

    Michele I totally agree with you! It's a pretty sad fact that business now plays an integral role in politics. Although I don't want to get too bogged down in the whole politics thing!
    Although it only takes one company to lead the way and the rest will follow, Laing O'Rourke has the potential to double turnover through adopting these processes. Rolls Royce also has a goal of halving carbon emissions while doubling turnover! Signs are promising and I really hope more companies adopt proper design processes and just 'cut the fat' in a sense, which could drastically reduce carbon emissions.

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