Sustainability
The way to be sustainable, in getting out of the ground, in the current climate is to reduce the depth to which foundations (pile/traditional) are constructed, reduce the amount of remediation (muckaway) required. This reduces the amount of concrete required and waste produced. We should also be looking at the amount of steel reinforcement we are putting into foundations.
This can only be achieved through a collaborative design approach with Structural & Civil Design Engineers, the Ground Engineers (Geotech/Site Investigation), the client and regulator. Getting the best out of the ground, using the best data we can get in the best way, with all risks appreciated and understood, designed out where possible and mitigated where not.
But how do you judge whether a decision you are making makes a foundation/remediation strategy more sustainable or not?
Well Ground & Water can help with this, with our new G&W Sustainability Calculator.
There is a pressing need to dramatically cut carbon emissions across the world. Ground /Geotechnical/Geo-environmental Engineers, alongside Structural/Civil Engineers, have a significant role to play in this. A way of achieving this is to calculate the embodied carbon of work at every design stage of the construction process.
One of the most important times to calculate embodied carbon is at an early design stage, which includes early site investigation, foundation and remediation design.
Ground & Water have utilised information within the Highways England Carbon Tool Guidance, Government Carbon Factors Report 2020, ICE V3 and the Bath Inventory Version 2.0 (2011) to produce a bespoke embodied carbon tool for foundations and remediation.
This allows the embodied carbon of an 18m deep piled foundation to be compared to a 2.0m deep, by 1.0m wide traditional footing and allows you to decide which is the most sustainable approach.
The tool allows you to evaluate the embodied carbon in a decision to install gas membranes, but also to install a 600mm capping instead of a 300mm Topsoil capping.
It allows you to determine the positive impact that use of the Definition of Waste Code of Practice (DoWCoP) can have on your earthworks. What is the carbon benefit of re-using 1000m3 of soil instead of importing it onto site?
Further decisions can therefore be Cost/Benefit balanced, with the benefit to the overall environment included within the design.
We will include a basic sustainability evaluation as standard within our reports, comparing typical pile length with typical traditional footing depth.
That said, for £300 excl. VAT, this sustainability assessment can be expanded to look at the impact of the piling mat, No. of houses, and the m2 area of footing, for a detailed site wide assessment.
It may be possible to link this with Civil & Structural Engineering tools, like the Highways England Carbon Tool or The Structural Carbon Tool Version 2 as it is understood that Embodied Carbon Assessments from Civil/Structural Engineers may use similar tools and carbon factors.
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What our clients say
Neilcott has worked with Ground & Water for over six years now and I personally have worked with Francis and the team for four years to successfully deliver numerous residential, educational and commercial schemes. Ground & Water offers support to Neilcott for both tender submissions and live projects providing a complete range of soil investigation services. In addition to their onsite services, Ground & Water continues to provide off site assistance in the form of industry specific Continued Professional Development workshops, which are beneficial to our project teams in understanding working practices and required methods in relation to varying site conditions. Ground & Water’s close working relationship provides Neilcott with an open minded, diligent approach to deliver cost and time effective investigations to understand site conditions as part of our enabling works for our sites. The approach aforementioned, in conjunction with comprehensive reporting and ongoing assistance throughout the planning and groundwork stages, is a key driver for maintaining our good working relationship with them.
Jonathan Bowdery
Neilcott Construction