Masdar City adopts carbon measurement system

Carbon footprint consultancy dcarbon8 has won the contract to ensure that Abu Dhabi’s multi-billion dollar sustainable development, Masdar City, succeeds in its quest for zero carbon emissions.

If Masdar City’s goal to become the world’s first zero-carbon city is to be achieved, it will be through the guidance of dcarbon8, who will be calculating and controlling the embodied carbon of the eco-city in Abu Dhabi.

“Our company will be measuring and monitoring Masdar City’s carbon emissions from the cradle to the grave”, said Matthew Fishwick, a consultant of London-based dcarbon8.

“This requires measuring all greenhouse gas emissions associated with manufacture, transportation and disposal of all building materials required for the city and onsite energy used to construct building.”

To measure the gas emissions, dcarbon8 will be using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology in accordance with dcarbon8’s own carbon footprint standard Planet Positive Protocol.

Developed in conjunction with Environmental Resource Management (ERM), Planet Positive has created a protocol to calculate, reduce and offset carbon emissions. KPMG has been employed as a third party means of assurance and an independent committee of academics and industry players review the protocol four times a year.

As no global standard on carbon emissions exist, Planet Positive is being adopted by companies to “measure, reduce and finally offset the remaining carbon footprint by at least 110%”, says Fishwick.

While dcarbon8 has worked with companies such as ProLogis, Development Securities and Sainsbury’s to measure and reduce their embodied carbon emissions, Masdar City is the largest project the company has tackled.

“Masdar took action on the largest conceivable scale and shows true leadership in rising to the challenge of climate change”, said Andrew Marris, the co-founder and CEO of dcarbon8. “We are very excited about the opportunity to work on such a groundbreaking development”.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Carbon Measurement
Posted by Jack, Dubai on Friday 17 October 2008 at 11:42 UAE time

Congratulations to dcarbon8, it'll be interesting to see the data they generate for MASDAR, which I do hope is 'transparently' published, though I suspect a little cherry picking will be the marketing choice.

I am involved in sustainability in the UAE and to say that it is 'challenging' to achieve a client's sustainable marketing vision is an understatement. The nature of region is already at a disadvantage from the outset with the lack of naturally sourced ground water, locally sourced materials for manufacturing and general weather conditions. The sun is the one component that is an advantage as a source for solar and ground heat energy but maintenance is heavy in order to maintain effective performance.

It'll be interesting to see how they 'measure' MASDAR and what is published as the project will be the regions indicator of what is really achievable out here.

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