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Embodied energy and carbon - The ICE database
Embodied energy is the amount of energy consumed to extract, refine, process, transport and fabricate a material or product (including buildings). It is often measured from cradle to (factory) gate, cradle to site (of use), or cradle to grave (end of life). Likewise, embodied carbon footprint is the amount of carbon (CO2 or CO2e emission) to produce a material.
Embodied energy and carbon is a topic of rising importance. In fact, it is normally possible to reduce the embodied energy and carbon of a building or construction project by 10-20% without adding to the build cost. What's more embodied carbon is often 20-50%, or so, of the whole life energy and carbon of a building, i.e. when operational carbon emissions are considered.
The embodied energy and carbon life cycle of a building can be expressed on a single diagram, as below.
Embodied energy
So if you're not looking at the embodied energy and carbon of your project then you are missing out on a valuable opportunity. This is where the Inventory of Carbon & Energy database can help. The ICE database is the world's leading source of embodied energy and carbon data and is available for free from this page (fill in the form below).
Download your free embodied energy and carbon database - over 25,000 users
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You will be emailed the ICE database so please check your email address carefully.
About the ICE database
The Inventory of Carbon and Energy (also know as the ICE database) is a leading embodied energy and carbon database for building materials which is available for free on this page. Our founder, Dr Craig Jones, created the ICE database in his former role as a researcher at the University of Bath whilst working for Professor Geoff Hammond, at the Sustainable Energy Research Team (SERT).
In total the ICE database has been downloaded by over 25,000 professionals from around the world and it appears in countless reports, journals, books, lectures, embodied energy and carbon footprint calculators, and more.
It contains data for over 200 materials, broken down into over 30 main material categories, such as:
Bricks
Cement
Concrete
Glass
Timber
Plastics
Metals
Minerals and stone
Many more...
The energy data provides the energy consumed to make a building material. This then gives rise to embodied carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming and climate change.
Creating an embodied energy database
The ICE database was created from a large review of the literature. The first version was released in 2005 and it has been updated at periodic intervals. The diagram below shows how the database was created.
Embodied Energy Database
To download the database please fill in the form towards the top of the page.
Last version
The latest version of the ICE database is:
ICE Database V3.0 Beta - 7 Nov 2019
ICE Cement, Mortar and Concrete Model - V1.1 Beta - 28 Nov 2019
ICE Database Machine Readable V3.0 Beta - 7 Nov 2019
Check back here in the future to make sure that your version is the most up to date.
Please connect with us through LinkedIn, Twitter, or by sharing this page.
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About Circular Ecology
Circular Ecology was founded in 2013 to offer a range of resource efficiency services, including carbon footprinting, water footprinting, life cycle assessment (LCA), circular economy and general resource efficiency. We also offer a range of online and bespoke training courses.
Circular Ecology
Dr. Craig Jones
Craig is an embodied energy, carbon footprint and LCA expert. In 2012 Craig featured at number 14 in a list of “the UK’s top 50 green leaders”.
He has a diverse project history and has worked with clients such as Dyson, Kingsmill, E.ON, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, WRAP, Tesco's, Willmott Dixon, Lafarge, The Olympic Delivery Authority, and Masdar city.
Dr Craig Jones
Craig provided the data to carbon footprint the construction of the London 2012 Olympics and tailored an embodied energy and carbon database for the $22 billion Masdar city in Abu Dhabi, which aspires to be the first zero carbon, zero waste and car free city. He wrote the first book dedicated to embodied carbon in construction and gained his PhD by the rare route of publication, which involved publishing 9 academic articles on the topic of embodied carbon and life cycle assessment.
Craig has a broad and deep experience of footprinting and LCA which includes many hundreds of building materials and building products, entire buildings, power stations, roads, electrical cables, national electricity systems, sludge dewatering systems, breakwater systems, high tech fabrics, photovoltaic systems, solar thermal systems, Dyson’s Airblade hand dryers, breads, pig farming systems, natural and organic pesticides, textiles and more. Craig also lead the technical development of an embodied water (footprint) database for materials, is an experienced peer reviewer, has created many carbon footprint calculators and is PRINCE II qualified, managing projects for both commercial and public sector clients.
Read more about Craig's project experience.
Connect with Craig through LinkedIn, Twitter or Google+.
Dr. Stephen Allen
Dr. Stephen Allen is an associate of Circular Ecology, having been a director during 2014-2018.
Stephen is a Lecturer in Building Environmental Engineering at the University of Bath (Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering).
Steve Allen Profile Pic
His academic research and teaching builds on eight years of industrial, commercial and public-policy experience of reducing the environmental impacts of the built environment, consumer products and the rail sector, particularly in terms of their energy use. He has worked in both the public and private sectors, as the Energy Adviser at the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) in Westminster, and as an energy and environmental consultant in industry. He is a joint recipient of the George Stephenson Medal (2009) from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Further details can be read on his profile page.
Connect with Steve through LinkedIn or Twitter.
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