When the timber framed Green Man community hub was designed by Black Architecture in 2011, embodied carbon was not on the agenda of an architectural profession that focussed on in use energy savings. Times have changed.
Phoenix Community Housing decided to go back and assess the performance of the building against current standards, engaging Etude and Black Architecture to gather archive data and run the carbon calculations. The results were as good as had been predicted in 2013 when the Green Man opened, with the building recorded at 583 kgCO₂e/m2 (A1-A3). The figures falling within RIBA embodied carbon targets that have been set for the built environment sector to achieve.
What would we do different? Source the timber frame from the UK and eliminate the concrete in the intermediate floor using CLT technology that has now been developed. Options that will be tested at our new community centre in St Albans.
