Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) has announced the expansion of its services to encompass carbon estimating, to help minimise greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints and promote sustainable practices in the Middle East. The new service will be available across the built environment, enabling clients to measure the carbon footprint of their projects and support sustainability goals.
Sustainability is now a growing priority on the agendas of governments and corporates in the Middle East, with varying levels of adoption and maturity. Considering the UAE as an example, the country recently announced the extension of its ‘Year of Sustainability’ into 2024, aiming to build upon the accomplishments of COP28, sustain momentum in climate action, and continue to achieve the goals of the UAE Net Zero 2050 strategic initiative.
Buildings and infrastructure are responsible for nearly 40% of annual global carbon emissions and a recent carbon study discovered that the local market’s preference to repeatedly utilise in-situ reinforced concrete is having a detrimental, yet avoidable, impact in terms of embodied carbon.
Aiming to address these challenges, RLB’s new carbon service will link the company’s in-house measurement software, ROSS5D, with industry carbon libraries, to simultaneously report in both cost and carbon. RLB’s team of specialists are on hand to scrutinise construction methodology and materials, advising and quantifying the dual impacts of alternative solutions by linking cost plan and bill quantities to RLB’s cost and carbon rates.
Seb Davies, Director of Cost Management at RLB Dubai and a key contributor to recent industry carbon studies of Dubai building structures, emphasizes the importance of these services in a region that is increasingly incorporating sustainability into its core plans and national agendas.
“With the anticipated increase in population and, consequently, the demand for additional development in the built environment, carbon emissions will only exacerbate if we do not take action now,” explains Davies. “At RLB, technology is at the forefront of our operations, and so we have leveraged digital solutions to help customers quantify a project’s embodied and operational carbon footprint. Armed with this information, customers will be able to make data driven, informed and long-term business decisions to achieve their sustainability and commercial goals.”
RLB has consistently placed a strong emphasis on integrating cutting-edge digital solutions into its services to streamline data collection, improve precision in calculations, and enhance collaboration and transparency among project stakeholders. The launch of its carbon estimating service reflects RLB’s commitment to leverage technology for positive change in the construction sector.
RLB’s new service also aligns with the company’s mission to support the built environment on its journey to achieving net zero. As one of the largest independent quantity surveying firms globally, the introduction of RLB’s carbon service in the Middle East marks a pivotal moment in the construction industry’s collective pursuit of a more sustainable future.
