“Carbon must be treated like cost — it must be measured, managed, and owned.”
— Damian Canning, Whole-life Carbon Lead, BAM
Teams routinely manage cost, risk, and schedule with clear owners and gates. Carbon deserves the same rigour: set targets, assign accountability, integrate into stage reviews, and evaluate trade-offs at the moment decisions are made.
“PAS 2080 is not a guide for how to quantify whole-life carbon… it’s a framework for how we manage carbon strategically, collaboratively, and systematically.”
PAS 2080 carbon management is a whole-life management framework that:
For technical depth and role-by-role actions (e.g., what a procurement manager must do), use the ICE guidance companion to PAS 2080.
“Counting isn’t managing. If carbon is not a standing item in design management, preconstruction, procurement, and commercial meetings — with clear ownership — it becomes a retrospective exercise.”
Create a decision map from the project brief to the handover. For each high-leverage choice (form, grid, materials, systems, logistics), document:
“Many decisions do not need perfect data — just good-enough data at the right time. If we wait for perfect data, we miss the moment.”
Early-stage estimates informed by benchmarks and IFC/BIM quantities can direct choices while there is still room to change form and materials.
Establish leadership and governance so carbon appears in the same dashboards as cost and risk — with thresholds that trigger escalation. This mirrors PAS 2080’s focus on leadership, integration, and accountability.
What to adopt:
Set project-level carbon targets that translate organisational goals into choices at package level — structure, envelope, MEP, temporary works, logistics. Use pathways that show “do nothing, do something, do a lot,” the cost implications, and supply-chain feasibility. (The Construction Playbook supports outcome-based requirements and KPIs.)
“If carbon isn’t in the brief, the contract, and the evaluation, it won’t influence delivery.”
Operationalise PAS 2080 Clause 8 with:
Most carbon is locked by the earliest design choices. Use brief-stage optioneering to test structural forms, spans, and material systems with rapid WLCA, then carry chosen options through to procurement with unambiguous performance tasks. World GBC’s Bringing embodied carbon upfront outlines why early, coordinated action is decisive.
Damian described BAM’s program to cut Scope 3 by half by 2030 — a scale that forces system change rather than isolated wins. Four “fields of play” translate well to most contractors, designers, and clients:
“Every project is an opportunity for change. If we rush the early stages, we lock in a trajectory that no amount of effort later can undo.”
For client and PMO teams
For designers and integrators
For contractors and procurement
For suppliers and manufacturers
What is PAS 2080 carbon management?
PAS 2080 is a whole-life carbon management framework for buildings and infrastructure that emphasises leadership, integration into decision-making, and value-chain collaboration — not just calculation.
How is PAS 2080 different from LCA standards like EN 15978 or RICS WLCA?
It complements them. PAS 2080 defines how organisations govern, target, procure, and collaborate so that LCA insights shape decisions and outcomes.
When should carbon be considered in a project?
From the earliest briefing and concept stages — when form, spans, and material systems are still flexible and savings are largest. Waiting until later locks in higher emissions.
What procurement actions reduce embodied carbon without stalling delivery?
Use outcome-based requirements, require EPDs and comparable disclosures, apply weighted carbon criteria, and tie payment milestones to verified performance, as supported by UK government guidance and ICE procurement notes.
Do I need perfect data to act?
No. Many choices can be steered with good-enough, timely estimates — refined as design matures. Use BIM/IFC quantities and category benchmarks early, then validate with product EPDs at contract award.
How does this help my team today?
You reduce late-stage rework, avoid stranded designs, and make trade-offs explicit. Embedding carbon into gates and procurement creates predictable, defendable decisions that meet client requirements under the Construction Playbook and similar frameworks.