Schneider Electric – Schneider Electric advances environmental impact transparency in MEP by sharing product data through One Click LCA

November 28, 2024
Schneider Electric

First-of-its-kind environmental initiative addresses the critical data shortage for MEP products needed to decarbonize building services.

 

Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, and One Click LCA, the leading sustainability software platform for construction and manufacturing, have today announced a partnership to improve the accuracy of environmental assessments in electrification.  

As buildings are currently responsible for 39% of global energy-related carbon emissions, and 50% of today’s buildings will still be in use by 2050, Schneider Electric proposes that the industry should focus on retrofitting existing buildings, which can reduce their lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 83%. 

The partnership addresses a persistent challenge in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry: the gaps in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) environmental data. This initiative allows One Click LCA users to access detailed environmental data for Schneider Electric products, enabling more accurate calculations of building environmental impacts. It marks the first time that comprehensive manufacturer MEP environmental data is made accessible at this scale. 

“The building industry needs reliable environmental data to make informed decisions,” says Sorouch Kheradmand, Global Head of Sustainability – Partners, at Schneider Electric. “By making our MEP product data publicly available through One Click LCA’s platform, we aim to set a new standard for transparency in our industry.” 

 

“Access to manufacturer MEP product data has been a significant gap in building life-cycle assessments,” says Panu Pasanen, CEO & Founder, of One Click LCA. “This first-of-its-kind partnership with Schneider Electric marks an important step toward closing that gap. By integrating detailed electrical products data into our platform, we’re enabling AEC companies to perform more precise environmental impact calculations.” 

 

The Schneider Electric & One Click LCA collaboration includes: 

  • Integration of Schneider Electric’s environmental product data into the One Click LCA platform 
  • Mutual learning to facilitate environment impact assessment in early stages of projects 
  • Enhanced product selection capabilities for sustainable building design 

 

 

SourceSchneider Electric

EMR Analysis

More information on Schneider Electric: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Olivier Blum (Chief Executive Officer and acting Executive Vice President, Energy Management, Schneider Electric): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on the Schneider Electric Sustainability Impact (SSI) 2021-2025 Program: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services 

More information on Agustin Lopez Diaz (Chief Sustainability and Customer Satisfaction & Quality Officer, Schneider Electric): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Sorouch Kheradmand (Global Head of Sustainability – Partners, Schneider Electric): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services  

 

More information on One Click LCA: https://oneclicklca.com/ + Founded in 2001, One Click LCA is the world-leading end-to-end sustainability platform for construction and manufacturing. The AI-powered software platform decarbonizes and drives sustainability across the construction value chain with scientific, easy-to-use, automated life-cycle assessment (LCA) and environmental product declarations (EPDs) to calculate and reduce the environmental impacts of building, infrastructure, and renovation projects and products. The platform also allows assessment of circularity, life-cycle cost, and biodiversity.

One Click LCA is used by blue-chip enterprises like Skanska, WSP, Foster+Partners, LafargeHolcim, ArcelorMittal, Arcadis, ARUP, Geberit, and Saint-Gobain, among others. It offers a unique global database with +250,000 LCA datasets; supports +80 standards and certifications, including LEED, BREEAM, GRESB and other national regulations; and seamlessly integrates with +20 of the most widely used BIM software tools, including Autodesk Revit®, Tekla Structures® and Bentley iTwin®. One Click LCA was founded in Helsinki, Finland in 2001, with a team of +200 people on all continents.

More information on Panu Pasanen (Chief Executive Officer and Founder, One Click LCA): https://oneclicklca.com/en/resources/articles/author/panu-pasanen + https://www.linkedin.com/in/panupasanen/ 

 

 

 

 

EMR Additional Notes:

  • MEP Products:
    • Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) refers to the installation of services which provide a functional and comfortable space for the building occupants. In residential and commercial buildings, these elements are often designed by specialized MEP engineers.

 

  • Carbon Dioxide (CO2):
    • Primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities. Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil), solid waste, trees and other biological materials, and also as a result of certain chemical reactions (e.g., manufacture of cement). Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere (or “sequestered”) when it is absorbed by plants as part of the biological carbon cycle.
  • Biogenic Carbon Dioxide (CO2):
    • Biogenic Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) are the same. Scientists differentiate between biogenic carbon (that which is absorbed, stored and emitted by organic matter like soil, trees, plants and grasses) and non-biogenic carbon (that found in all other sources, most notably in fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas).
  • Decarbonization:
    • Reduction of carbon dioxide emissions through the use of low carbon power sources, achieving a lower output of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
  • Carbon Footprint:
    • There is no universally agreed definition of what a carbon footprint is.
    • A carbon footprint is generally understood to be the total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are directly or indirectly caused by an individual, organization, product, or service. These emissions are typically measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
    • In 2009, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) published a standard for calculating and reporting corporate carbon footprints. This standard is widely accepted by businesses and other organizations around the world. The GHG Protocol defines a carbon footprint as “the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, directly and indirectly, through its own operations and the value chain.”
  • CO2e (Carbon Dioxide Equivalent):
    • CO2e means “carbon dioxide equivalent”. In layman’s terms, CO2e is a measurement of the total greenhouse gases emitted, expressed in terms of the equivalent measurement of carbon dioxide. On the other hand, CO2 only measures carbon emissions and does not account for any other greenhouse gases.
    • A carbon dioxide equivalent or CO2 equivalent, abbreviated as CO2-eq is a metric measure used to compare the emissions from various greenhouse gases on the basis of their global-warming potential (GWP), by converting amounts of other gases to the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide with the same global warming potential.
      • Carbon dioxide equivalents are commonly expressed as million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents, abbreviated as MMTCDE.
      • The carbon dioxide equivalent for a gas is derived by multiplying the tonnes of the gas by the associated GWP: MMTCDE = (million metric tonnes of a gas) * (GWP of the gas).
      • For example, the GWP for methane is 25 and for nitrous oxide 298. This means that emissions of 1 million metric tonnes of methane and nitrous oxide respectively is equivalent to emissions of 25 and 298 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide.
  • Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) – Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS):
    • CCS involves the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial processes. This carbon is then transported from where it was produced, via ship or in a pipeline, and stored deep underground in geological formations.
    • CCS projects typically target 90 percent efficiency, meaning that 90 percent of the carbon dioxide from the power plant will be captured and stored.
  • Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR): 
    • Carbon Dioxide Removal encompasses approaches and methods for removing CO2 from the atmosphere and then storing it permanently in underground geological formations, in biomass, oceanic reservoirs or long-lived products in order to achieve negative emissions.
  • Direct Air Capture (DAC): 
    • Technologies extracting CO2 directly from the atmosphere at any location, unlike carbon capture which is generally carried out at the point of emissions, such as a steel plant.
    • Constraints like costs and energy requirements as well as the potential for pollution make DAC a less desirable option for CO2 reduction. Its larger land footprint when compared to other mitigation strategies like carbon capture and storage systems (CCS) also put it at a disadvantage.
  • Carbon Credits or Carbon Offsets:
    • Permits that allow the owner to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. One credit permits the emission of one ton of carbon dioxide or the equivalent in other greenhouse gases.
    • The carbon credit is half of a so-called cap-and-trade program. Companies that pollute are awarded credits that allow them to continue to pollute up to a certain limit, which is reduced periodically. Meanwhile, the company may sell any unneeded credits to another company that needs them. Private companies are thus doubly incentivized to reduce greenhouse emissions. First, they must spend money on extra credits if their emissions exceed the cap. Second, they can make money by reducing their emissions and selling their excess allowances.

 

  • AEC Companies:
    • The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) services sector provides a host of services surrounding the planning and building of commercial and residential projects that employ design and construction professionals in the planning and implementation of often multi-billion-dollar projects.