Embodied carbon calculator
Not version-specific
Tekla Structures
Environment
Not environment-specific
Embodied carbon calculator is a tool to help the optimization of the design to reduce the carbon footprint. It will give you an estimate of the current status of the carbon footprint per element, visualize which elements have more potential to be optimized, and compare the carbon footprint of the new design optimization to the old.
The calculations are done on the highest assembly level from the Tekla Structures native parts or for IFC objects
- Assembly
- Cast unit
- Pour unit
- IFC object
Main features in the tool:
- Compare footprint of alternative solutions
- Show the carbon footprint in model labels
- Color selected group according to kgCO₂e/m³
- Find relatively most inefficient elements
- Carbon footprint as reportable object property for the report, IFC property, model label, drawings, etc.
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| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Carbon footprint calculation definitions | Open the Calculation definitions dialog. |
| Show Carbon footprint in model label | Sets the label visualization of the view to show the calculated carbon footprint value (Custom property: CUSTOM.CARBON_FTP_VALUE). |
| Color model by carbon footprint extremes for selected units | Change the coloring for the selected objects to represent the carbon footprint extremes. Note: The carbon footprint is calculated per element. The extremes coloring allows you to find the relatively most inefficient element based on carbon footprint per m³. |
| Save for comparison | Save the current value of the ‘Carbon footprint of selected units’. The saved value and the comparison value to the current selection will be visible in the dialog. |
| Carbon footprint of selected units | The total sum of the carbon footprint based on the calculation definitions of all the selected objects. |
Carbon footprint calculation definitions
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| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| A | Ribbon |
| B | Definition category tree |
| C | Category filter |
| D | Footprint modules |
| E | Module definitions side pane |
Groups
Set up the main product groups. A group has to be based on the following product types: Assembly, Cast unit, Pour unit, IFC object.
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Products
Products within the assembly groups can be created by defining the products with filters.
For example, precast beams can be a product by filtering out all Cast units with the prefix = B.
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Filtering can use “*” as wildcards. For example string contains can be done by using "*concrete*" to get all materials that contains "concrete" in the name. |
Modules
For each element that can affect the carbon footprint a module can be created.
For example, a precast element can have a specified value for the volume of the cast unit times the value of VOLUME_NET_ONLY_CONCRETE_PARTS, and there can be a separate carbon footprint value per the weight of the reinforcement. Below you can see the reinforcement’s carbon footprint is set to be 1.99 kgCO₂e per kg rebar, and the weight of the rebar is given from the CAST_UNIT_REBAR_WEIGHT attribute of the Cast unit.
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Alternatively, you can get the module value from excel sheets. For each module you can select an excel document and set which row the value should be taken from. The names of the row should be in the A column and the Values in the B column. If the values are updated in Excel the new values are being used in the carbon footprint calculation.
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Custom properties
The properties are based on the assembly, cast unit, and pour unit level. To include them for parts use ‘ASSEMBLY.CUSTOM.CARBON_FTP_VALUE’.
| Custom Property | Definition |
|---|---|
| CUSTOM.CARBON_FTP_FORMULA | Footprint formula of the unit |
| CUSTOM.CARBON_FTP_VALUE | Footprint value of the unit |