Leading cost consultant Davis Langdon has pledged to provide a carbon index to all of its clients as part of its service. Davis Langdon is taking the initiative to encourage clients to think about sustainability.

The index will provide a measure of the total carbon emissions of the scheme. This will include embodied energy in the materials used to build it, the energy used to construct it and the energy consumed during its lifetime.

Senior partner Rob Smith said: "As an industry we have to start raising our game on sustainability before it's too late. We can't solve the problem, and we can't make decisions for our clients, but we can draw it to their attention if the carbon emissions are too high. We can't stand by and tell our grandchildren we did nothing."

The service will be rolled out across D&L's offices worldwide and in operation by the end of the year.