BHB installation explores embodied carbon impact

The University of Huddersfield’s School of Arts and Humanities is hosting Carbon Counts, an exhibition which explores the embodied carbon of some of the most common building materials used today, as it continues its tour around the UK.

A concept of Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Carbon Counts is a striking installation which draws together key metrics for ten materials – including steel, aluminium, concrete and timber – to illustrate the embodied carbon impacts of each.

Embodied carbon is the carbon emitted in the processes involved in the creation of these materials: from the extraction, processing, manufacture and packaging of the materials; their transport to and construction on site; maintenance over their life span; and what happens to them after the building is demolished.

The exhibition, housed in the Barbara Hepworth Building on the University campus, seeks to start a conversation. It is a springboard to encourage wider debate and discussion, so that as an industry we can work together to continue to research, test, analyse and develop more sustainable architecture. Whilst on location it will form the backdrop to student workshops, providing a tangible experience for students and staff, as well as public-facing events.

By understanding how to measure the carbon emitted during the construction and life cycle of a building, architects are able to make better informed choices to improve the impact of buildings on the environment.

The exhibition itself has been designed to have a low environmental impact, while ensuring strong visual presence and longevity. Tall ‘totems’ made of recycled wood house a sample of each material inside glowing acrylic tubes. The size of each material sample varies, representing an exact equivalent of 1kg of CO2 emitted by its manufacture.

Alongside the exhibition is a website which compares in more detail the impacts of material choice, laying out the processes they go through from ‘cradle to gate’.

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios is a practice founded on environmental principles. They have been committed to developing innovative approaches towards low carbon architecture for over 40 years and are currently working on ambitious plans to revitalise part of Huddersfield town centre with the Council for Kirklees Cultural Heart.

The plans include the refurbishment of two Grade II listed buildings, Queensgate Market Hall and Huddersfield Library and Art Gallery. In reusing a number of the buildings on the Kirklees Cultural Heart site and preserving their history and heritage, FCB Studios are also reducing carbon associated with creating and transporting new materials.