RSSB is holding an industry webinar to demonstrate how its newly launched Carbon Management Tool can help rail organisations make lower-carbon infrastructure decisions throughout the asset lifecycle.
The webinar follows the launch of the Carbon Management Tool in September and comes as carbon increasingly moves from being primarily a reporting requirement towards becoming a consideration in the engineering, design and procurement of railway infrastructure.
Bringing carbon into early project decisions
One of the central aims of the Carbon Management Tool is to help project teams understand the carbon consequences of different options while there is still an opportunity to change them.
RSSB says the tool can identify potential carbon reductions from the concept design stage, allowing engineers and project teams to compare alternative approaches before major design and procurement decisions become locked in.
It covers the whole asset lifecycle, including design, construction, maintenance, renewal and eventual end-of-life.
Users can identify areas responsible for significant emissions and compare different design and delivery options, while Power BI integration allows carbon information to be brought together for reporting and analysis.
This whole-life approach is particularly relevant to rail infrastructure, where the lowest-carbon option may not necessarily be the solution with the smallest impact during initial construction.
Decisions around whether to maintain, refurbish, renew or replace an asset can have consequences stretching across decades of railway operation.
Developed with infrastructure managers and supply chain
RSSB developed the tool alongside infrastructure managers, Tier 1 contractors and suppliers to ensure it reflects the way railway projects are actually designed and delivered.
That industry involvement could prove important if carbon assessment is to become embedded further down the supply chain rather than remaining predominantly the responsibility of specialist sustainability teams.
The tool has also been designed to support the principles of PAS 2080, the internationally recognised standard for managing carbon across buildings and infrastructure.
For contractors and suppliers, greater use of consistent carbon assessment could increasingly influence how solutions are developed and presented to clients, particularly where project teams are expected to demonstrate the whole-life implications of different engineering options.
Tackling inconsistent carbon calculations
The webinar will also introduce RSSB’s Rail Infrastructure Carbon Conventions (RICC) project, which is intended to address another significant challenge: ensuring organisations calculate infrastructure carbon consistently.
The project was initiated following feedback from industry engagement and users involved in piloting the Carbon Management Tool.
RICC is developing rail-specific guidance, methodologies and assumptions that can be used when carrying out infrastructure carbon assessments.
Establishing those conventions could be as important as the calculation tool itself. Carbon comparisons have limited value if organisations use substantially different assumptions, boundaries or methodologies to produce their figures.
Creating a more consistent approach could make it easier for infrastructure clients to compare options and for contractors and suppliers to understand what will be expected when providing carbon data.
From measuring carbon to reducing it
The 2 October webinar is aimed at infrastructure managers, project managers, engineers, designers, sustainability professionals, carbon managers, contractors, consultants, suppliers and asset owners involved in GB rail infrastructure.
As the industry works towards its longer-term net zero ambitions, attention is increasingly turning towards the carbon embedded in the construction, maintenance and renewal of the railway itself.
The Carbon Management Tool and RICC initiative are intended to give project teams a common framework for tackling that challenge.
The important shift will be moving carbon management further upstream. Measuring emissions once a project has been designed can demonstrate its impact; putting comparable carbon information in front of engineers and decision-makers during concept development creates an opportunity to reduce it.
For rail organisations looking to understand how that can work in practice, RSSB’s October webinar will provide the first detailed opportunity since the tool’s launch to see how it can be incorporated into real infrastructure decision-making.
