Consultant has developed online tool for assessing embodied carbon and project costs

Consulting engineer Mott MacDonald has launched what it claims is the world’s first online carbon and construction cost tool.

Called CapIT, the tool will enable users to simultaneously calculate the cost and the embodied carbon of a project and compare the impact of different construction options, suppliers and specifications.

James Fisk, who heads up the economic research unit in Mott MacDonald’s cost consultancy Franklin & Andrews, says that cost consultants are well placed to take on the task of evaluating the embodied carbon of designs: “With incoming legislation, the measurement and reduction of embodied carbon is going to play an increasingly important part in construction projects over the forthcoming years.”

CapIT takes the carbon and cost data from the ICE CESMM3 Carbon & Price book and Hutchins UK Building Blackbook. The databases are updated on a quarterly basis to keep track of the latest price movements. Subscribers can also select cost data from libraries specific to a certain region and have the option to add their own items or change the data to make it applicable to their own procurement arrangements.

The company is looking to develop the system further to encompass other sectors such as utilities and highways and growing international markets.