Target Zero up and running

Low and zero carbon steel intensive buildings will soon be a reality due to Target Zero, a £1M  project jointly funded by the BCSA and Corus.

“It has been running for over a year and has made significant progress towards developing practical guidance for low and zero carbon buildings,” said Dr David Moore, BCSA Director of Engineering.

The project team, which is led by AECOM with support from cost consultant Cyril Sweett, the Swindon Technology Centre and SCI, have been investigating low and zero carbon options for five building types: schools; warehouses; supermarkets; medium-rise buildings, and mixed-use developments.

The work on schools is almost complete and has resulted in the development of three internal publications: Zero Carbon Schools – Technical Guide 1 A route to Zero Carbon; Zero Carbon Schools – Technical Guide 2 A route to BREEAM ‘Outstanding’, and Zero Carbon Schools – Technical Guide 3 Reducing embodied energy.

The work on warehouses is also progressing and two internal reports have been developed and are currently being reviewed by the Target Zero technical committee.

A team comprising the SCI and AECOM have been commissioned to produce a guidance document for each of the five types of structure. These publications are aimed at engineers and architects and will be approximately 40 pages long and written in an easy to read rather than a technical style.

The first publication is expected before the end of this year with the remaining documents delivered during 2010.

For more information on Target Zero and to register for its regular newsletter visit: www.targetzero.info