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LETI Whole Life Carbon webinar series

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We are in a climate emergency, and urgently need to reduce carbon emissions.  Currently in the UK built environment industry, there is a lack of knowledge surrounding Whole Life Carbon (WLC) and the need for reduction strategies and calculations.  As 2023 begins, the industry needs to embrace ambitious building designs that also deliver urgently required operational energy and embodied carbon reductions.

The new LETI Whole Life Carbon webinar series will introduce this concept of Whole Life Carbon and how we in the industry can urgently reduce carbon emissions within the built environment.  Whole Life Carbon includes emissions from Embodied Carbon and carbon emissions associated with operational energy.

Beginning on the 24th January 2023 and running until mid July, the WLC webinar series will be delivered by a wide variety of speakers and cover a range of relevant topics from operational energy modelling to embodied carbon specification and procurement.  A number of the webinars will also be accompanied by the presentation of the many new 2023 LETI publications.
 

Watch Now! LETI Whole Life Carbon webinar series

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Session 1

Introduction to Whole Life Carbon and the

LETI Webinar Series

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Session 2

Embodied Carbon Case Studies

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Session 3

Operational Carbon in Whole Life Carbon Assessments

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Session 4

Low Embodied Carbon Specification and Procurement Guide

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Session 5

Retrofit vs. Rebuild: Unpicking the Carbon Argument

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Session 6

Operational Energy Modelling Guide

24.01.23 LETI Whole Life Carbon webinar series:
               Session 1 - LAUNCH

Session 1

Join LETI as we introduce the concept of Whole Life Carbon (WLC) and how we, as industry professionals, can urgently reduce carbon emissions within the built environment.

AGENDA
01 Introduction 

02 Carbon Definitions for the Built Environment

03 Operational Energy and the Climate

     Emergency Design Guide

04 Retrofit 

05 Embodied Carbon  

06 Circular Economy

07 Client Guide

08 Net Zero FAQs and the UK Net Zero Carbon

     Buildings Standard 

09 Q&A

Download the webinar slides:
LETI Whole Life Carbon webinar series: Launch 
(.pdf document)

This introduction session, the first in a series of many webinars aiming to provide a co-ordinated training programme to help you on your WLC literacy journey.  It provides an introduction to the LETI WLC webinar series itself and what topics it will cover going forward.

 

The webinar launches the update to the Carbon Definitions for the Built Environment, Buildings and Infrastructure.  Published in 2021, the document provides a common set of definitions that has been developed by the Whole Life Carbon Network (WLCN) in collaboration with many others including LETI.  We also discuss the various updates to the document which further align the definitions, scopes, measurement methodologies and targets set within the publication.
 

In addition, the webinar includes an overview of the extensive range of published LETI guidance related to Whole Life Carbon including:
 

  • The Climate Emergency Design Guide

  • The Embodied Carbon Primer

  • The Client Guide to Net Zero

  • The Climate Emergency Retrofit Guide

  • The Carbon alignment documents

  • LETI CIBSE Net Zero FAQs

  • The circular economy one pager

SPEAKERS

01  Clara Bagenal George

02  Simon Sturgis

03  Joe Jack Williams

04  Alex Whitcroft

05  Louisa Bowles

06  Kat Scott

07  Mina Hasman

08  Julie Godefroy

FURTHER INFORMATION

Carbon Definitions for the Built Environment, Buildings & Infrastructure 

LETI publications

UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard

LETI Net zero FAQs

LETI Client Guide

Become a LETI volunteer!

06.02.23 LETI Whole Life Carbon webinar series:
               Session 2 - EMBODIED CARBON CASE STUDIES

Session 2

Join LETI for our second session of the Whole Life Carbon (WLC) webinar series!  This webinar will present our Embodied Carbon case studies showcasing a selection of projects throughout the UK which demonstrate ‘good-practice’ in terms of consideration of embodied and whole life carbon principles.

AGENDA

01 Introduction to LETI 

02 Embodied Carbon - definitions

03 Embodied Carbon Case studies - an   

     introduction

04 Process

05 Output

06 Next steps

07 Q&A

Download the webinar slides:
LETI Whole Life Carbon webinar series: Embodied carbon case studies (.pdf document)

This webinar will explain the case studies format which has been developed to provide clear, comparative and understandable documents which provide a useful means for sharing lessons learned and key challenges with a focus on the design decisions and materials selection to help you reduce your project’s embodied carbon.

The webinar also includes discussion regarding:

  • striking a balance of reporting robust metrics

  • backing up the ‘carbon story’ behind analysis and project procurement

  • the RICS PS Whole Life Carbon assessment for the built environment reporting format

  • the GLA Whole Life Carbon reporting template

  • the UKGBC Net Zero Carbon Construction Reporting Template

The webinar aims to encourage you to join LETI’s call out for further case studies for publication to evolve and link the information gathered, ultimately bringing more transparency to embodied carbon reporting and practice.

14.03.23 LETI Whole Life Carbon webinar series:
               Session 3 - OPERATIONAL CARBON IN WHOLE LIFE CARBON ASSESSMENTS

Sesson 3

Join LETI for our third session of the Whole Life Carbon (WLC) webinar series!  This webinar will demonstrate an approach to operational carbon in WLC assessments. As the industry becomes more familiar with embodied carbon assessments, consultants are using a WLC approach when scrutinising and evaluating design options.

AGENDA

01 LETI Introduction

02 Introduction

03 Proposal

04 Methodology

05 Case Studies

06 Recommendations

07 Q&A

A LETI workstream has evaluated assumptions in WLC assessments and how they address the complexities of converting operational energy to operational carbon.

This webinar will introduce a calculation reporting methodology ‘Split Carbon Factor' which recognises that every building must play its part and support the grid to decarbonise in an equitable way and not allow high energy buildings to use the benefits of a decarbonised grid that they do not actively support.

There will also be discussion regarding:

 

  • the uncertainties of the decarbonisation pathway of the UK grid

  • the relationship between the amount of energy used by buildings and the ability of the UK grid to decarbonise

  • understanding the trade offs between operational energy and embodied carbon

SPEAKERS

01  Clara Bagenal George

02  Michela Ravaglia

03  Alex Johnstone

04  Leighton Smith

05  Barny Evans

FURTHER INFORMATION

LETI Opinion pieces

Carbon Definitions for the Built Environment, Buildings & Infrastructure

LETI Publications

LETI Carbon alignment publication

LETI Embodied Carbon Case Studies

WLC assessment for the built environment document

LETI Embodied carbon primer

LETI Net zero FAQs

Become a LETI volunteer!

21.02.23 LETI Whole Life Carbon webinar series:
               Session 4 - LOW EMBODIED CARBON SPECIFICATION & PROCUREMENT GUIDE

Session 4

Join LETI for the fourth session of the Whole Life Carbon (WLC) webinar series and the launch of the Low Embodied Carbon specification and procurement guide!

AGENDA

01 LETI Introduction

02 Introduction to the Low Embodied Carbon

     specification and procurement guide

03 Embodied carbon reduction roadmap

04 Specification and procurement

05 Material guides overview

06 Case studies

07 Q&A

Our new Low Embodied Carbon specification and procurement guide is a useful resource to share the collective experience of low embodied carbon project delivery. The aim is to provide a greater understanding of the barriers and opportunities that exist within the process and raise awareness of some of the techniques that can be employed to reduce the embodied carbon of new construction.

The guide aims to specifically support designers and contractors who are facing the difficult task of trying to reduce embodied carbon without a clear roadmap to follow. The webinar will discuss the following key issues:

  • What needs to be included in a specification to give contractors scope to deliver construction projects with low embodied carbon?

  • What are the issues in the procurement process that prevent the realisation of intended embodied carbon savings, and how can they be addressed?

  • How can the design team work better together with contractors, suppliers and manufacturers to deliver low embodied carbon?

  • Practical advice that can be applied at different scales of building, providing a holistic overview of challenges and prospective solutions to low carbon specification.

SPEAKERS

01  Kallum Desai

02  Duncan Cox

03  Phil Obayda

04  Sidonie Immler

05  Erica Russell

FURTHER INFORMATION

LETI Embodied Carbon Specification & Procurement Guide

LETI Publications

LETI Embodied carbon primer

Become a LETI volunteer!

28.03.23  LETI Whole Life Carbon webinar series:
                Session 5 - RETROFIT vs REBUILD: UNPICKING THE CARBON ARGUMENT

Session 5

Join LETI for our fifth Whole Life Carbon webinar and the launch of our Retrofit vs Rebuild Unpicker - a handy tool that provides guidance on how to compare whole life carbon for a retrofit versus its demolition and rebuild.

AGENDA

01 LETI Introduction

02 Retrofit vs Rebuild unpicker 

03 Q&A

Join LETI for our fifth Whole Life Carbon webinar and the launch of our Retrofit vs Rebuild Unpicker - a handy tool that provides guidance on how to compare whole life carbon for a retrofit versus its demolition and rebuild.

The focus of this webinar is carbon; considering both the embodied carbon implications and the operational carbon implications related to energy use, in both the retrofit scenario and the demolish and rebuild scenario. On a whole life basis, the assessment is complex and relies on many assumptions while in practice, there are many additional factors in the decision of whether or not to retain a building.

This new publication from LETI aims to help review whole life carbon comparisons between rebuild and retrofit scenarios, to answer the following question "Does the whole life carbon assessment and comparison provide a basis for decision on the carbon part of the retrofit versus rebuild argument?"

This webinar will provide an overview for non-technical specialists and “unpick” the jargon surrounding this debate and discuss whether the assessment and comparison are:

  • As fair and like-for-like as possible

  • Technically robust, thorough, and following best practice guidance

  • Transparent e.g. clearly listed assumptions, open about areas of uncertainty.

SPEAKERS

01  Claire Murray

02  Julie Godefroy

FURTHER INFORMATION

LETI Publications

LETI Unpicker: Retrofit vs Rebuild

Become a LETI volunteer!

UP NEXT! LETI Whole Life Carbon webinar series:
                Session 6 - OPERATIONAL ENERGY MODELLING GUIDE

Join LETI for our sixth Whole Life Carbon webinar and the launch of the Operational Energy Modelling Guide!

Sesson 6

AGENDA

01 LETI Intro

02 Why we need good energy models
03 The Operational Modelling Guide
04 The energy modelling jigsaw
05 Energy modelling advice
06 Q&A

LETI is delighted to present our sixth Whole Life Carbon webinar and the launch of the Operational Energy Modelling Guide. During the webinar we will define what predictive operational energy modelling is, describe how it works and advise on how to get the best out of the process.

Join our webinar to develop a solid understanding of the ‘net zero’ targets and best practice modelling fundamentals. We advocate for why energy performance modelling is necessary and demonstrate the key recommendations for how it should be used.

The session will address why we need to use operational energy performance modelling, and the key pieces in the jigsaw needed to make it effective for any project:

  • The energy modellers and how to get the most out of their appointment

  • Selecting the right modelling tool for a project at each stage and the considerations impacting this choice

  • Reasons for following a robust modelling methodology (CIBSE TM54)

  • The core modelling outputs

  • The modelling timeline and advice on how to plan from concept design through to operation.

 

The guidance also includes general modelling advice aimed at modellers themselves, for approaching different aspects of energy performance modelling.

SPEAKERS

01  Joe Jack Williams  

02  Susie Diamond

03  Tom Gwilliam

FURTHER INFORMATION

LETI Publications

LETI Operational Modelling Guide

Become a LETI volunteer!

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