Designing and implementing procurement requirements for carbon reduction in infrastructure construction – international overview and experiences

Figures & data

Table 1. Cases and interviewees.

Country	Project	Actors interviewed (no of individuals in parenthesis)	Number of interviews
Australia	Sydney Metro Northwest	Client (3), Contractor (1), Designer (2), Steel Supplier (1)	4
Australia	Newcastle Light Rail	Client (1), Contractor (1), Designer (4)	2
The Netherlands	A6 Almere	Client (2), Contractor (1)	1
Sweden	3 projects and other interviews	3 project interviews + interviews with clients (23), consultants (16), contractors (22) and suppliers (15).	17
UK	Anglian Water, Grafham WTW Resilience and Dalton Piercy WTW	Client (2), Contractor (1), Designer (1), other (1)	1
UK	HS2	Client (3), Contractor (1)	2
USA	California High-Speed Rail	Client (4), Contractor (1), Designer (1), Supervisor (1), Steel supplier (1)	5
USA	SFO AirTrain Extension	Client (1), Contractor (2), Designer (2)	3

Table 2. Overview of procurement requirements for carbon reduction in case study projects (Anglian Water business model described in text).

Type of requirement	Sydney Metro Northwest, Australia	Newcastle Light Rail, Australia	Motorway A6 Almere, NL	Swedish Transport Administration	High Speed 2, UK	California High Speed Rail, USA	SFO Airtrain Extension, USA (buildings)
Selection and award criteria (qualification and MEAT criteria)	Questions about carbon management capabilities included in Prequalification Questionnaire and weighted in tender evaluation	None	Max 5 + 5% fictive tender discount based on CO2 Performance Ladder rating and calculated DuboCalc Env.Cost Indicator perf.	None	PQ req: ISO 14001 compliance Award crit: Design challenge evaluated on bidder’s carbon mgmt capability	None	None
Technical specifications and specific requirements (functional, detailed, process, competence)	Requirement for replacement of cement depending on strength classes, 30% or more. Min. 60 % of bar and mesh produced through energy reduction processes such as Polymer Injection Technology. Min 15 % of reinforcing steel from suppliers that use optimal off-site fabrication techniques such as engineered reinforcing bar carpet, engineered/customised mesh or prefabricated reinforcing cages.	Requirement for replacement of cement depending on strength classes, 30% or more. At least 25 % of site-based electricity energy from Green Power or renewable sources. Use of TfNSW’s Carbon Emissions Reporting Tool (CERT) – requirement from SDG 3.0. 100 % green energy requirement for operation, by offsetting	“Energy Neutral” operation – PV panels have to be installed to compensate for operation energy need.	For early design contracts (project budget above 5 MEUR): Perform carbon calculation with Klimatkalkyl. Describe implemented reduction measures and recommend measures for next project phase For projects below 5 MEUR: Max. carbon emission levels for cement/concrete and reinforcement steel. EPDs for material and construction steel. Min 20 % of energy for equipment and vehicles based on renewable fuel or renewable energy	Carbon management plan PAS 2080 compliance within 12 months of contract award (Tier 1 contractors) Euro 6 vehicles (air quality)	Where practicable, use recycled products and materials or waste materials. Evaluate the use of all reasonably feasible renewable energy sources. Use renewable energy when feasible Provide EPDs from suppliers and manufacturers for concrete mix designs and all steel. Provide a Sustainability Management Plan (SMP), including establishing a baseline against which progress shall be tracked.	Requirements for stations include: - Plan to minimize ecological footprint and life cycle carbon emissions. - Reduce carbon emissions from natural gas consumption in HVAC systems. - Assign LCC for carbon emissions. Provide LCA data to inform design and product selection - Provide whole building LCA at each design phase. Provide LCA data using EPDs for the major products and systems.
Sustainability Rating Schemes	Green Star rating for stations, IS rating for infrastructure	IS rating (Excellent), SDG 3.0 Gold rating	None	None	BREEAM New Constr./ Infrastruc-ture Excellent	None for infrastructure	None for infrastructure
Carbon reduction requirements	LCA req. for 15-25 % reduction of whole of life embedded carbon for material, where a part is reduction from cement. The LCA requirement is demonstrated by using Greenstar LCA-tool or ISCA materials calculator. 20 % carbon reduction from electricity use and major fuels, during construction, by offsetting.	Requirement of reduction of carbon emissions, including development of baseline - a part of IS rating requirement	Included in DuboCalc requirement	DB contracts above 5 MEUR with start of operation 2020-2024: − 15 % (start of operation 2020-2024) resp. 30% (start of operation 2025-2029) carbon reduction compared to baseline. Verified by carbon declaration by end of project, and EPDs for cement/concrete, reinforcement steel, and construction steel.	Reduction in carbon impact in relation to baseline. 50% reduction for main civil works, 30% for enabling works.	Reduce emissions and energy use below regulatory requirements and the estimated baseline by: - use of cleaner engines - use of cleaner fuels, efficient use of fuel, renewable diesel - efficient energy practices, efficient construction practices, materials delivery streamlining - other Contractor identified initiatives	- Calculate carbon emissions from construction activities and take specific measures to reduce these emissions - Perform whole building LCA showing minimum 10% improvement for three impacts including climate change compared to a reference building meeting 2010 CEC requirements.

Figure 1. Schematic illustration of how client preferences/requirements/strategies were influenced by basic concerns and ambitions, and of how initial models were modified (or discarded) over time. Client capabilities form the background to these developments.