Carb0nise – a novel carbon reduction tool for construction projects

WSP’s New Zealand-based Design Automation Lead Matt Taylor first began looking for ways to measure embodied carbon on structural projects for colleagues in the UK back in 2013. Back then, calculating the embodied carbon for I-beams, concrete floor slabs and other structural elements was an artform as much as a science.

Carbonise is a WSP-built Revit tool which makes it easy to select the optimal product from a range of options, and make comparisons against another. Data is largely based on each item’s overall carbon footprint, generated during manufacture, transportation and placement on site.

Carbonise is grounded in quality datasets specific to the location of use – for example, the carbon footprint for a steel beam manufactured in China will differ for UK-based and New Zealand-based construction teams according to transportation inputs.

Carbonise has now reached the beta-testing phase in the UK, with a comprehensive dataset well-advanced and reliable results being produced.

The next challenge is to capture data from past projects to use as a baseline for similar new projects.

WSP will soon be offering embodied carbon assessments as a value-add on all UK projects – creating opportunities for clients and designers to replace high carbon footprint elements and materials with more sustainability-minded alternatives.

City Rail Link – a smart public transport solution at the heart of Auckland

This new underground rail link is shaking up the way infrastructure projects are delivered in New Zealand – and globally.

City Rail Link is the largest and most complex transport project of its type ever undertaken in New Zealand, and is on track for completion due to its an innovative, digitally driven project delivery model.

The Link Alliance project delivery team comprises three construction companies and three design companies – including WSP, with 430 design personnel from 41 different countries across 16 design disciplines on board.

The project has continued uninterrupted despite the disruption of Covid-19 and other challenges, largely thanks to its key point-of-difference – an integrated, cloud-based digital design and delivery set-up. Construction and design teams ‘talk’ to one another throughout all project phases, resulting in less waste, improved communication and design efficiencies, and an optimal end result – for the client, for stakeholders, for design and construction industries, and for the public.

City Rail Link’s outstanding success to-date has already been recognised with a top honours win at the global 2020 AEC Autodesk Excellence Awards.

Digital savvy solution for a Hastings heritage asset

The Toitoi Hawke’s Bay Arts & Events Centre represents Hastings’ cultural heart. Re-opened in 2020, the facility integrates the fully refurbished and seismically strengthened historic Hawke’s Bay Opera House and a brand-new modern wing.

To protect this iconic community asset for future generations, WSP worked closely with Hastings District Council to complete a full Asset Information Model for the facility. The result is a future-focused asset management tool that enables the council to easily oversee and maintain all facility elements.

For the project, WSP’s digital engineering team created a digital replica of Toitoi using quality asset data captured with LIDAR scanning (a remote sensing non-invasive method using light to measure distance).

A key project outcome – the result of carefully listening to the client’s stated needs – has been the integration of new data within the council’s pre-existing data management tool.

WSP’s bespoke digital solution has simplified Toitoi’s asset management process, minimised costs, and advanced predictive maintenance and asset renewal – ensuring ‘best-care’ outcomes for this important community asset well into the future.

Verifying embodied carbon reduction on an Auckland rail project

Reducing the carbon footprint of a major rail project in Auckland New Zealand was a priority – as was verifying results. Here’s how WSP used a “digital twin” to support this.

Embodied carbon – reducing the total greenhouse gas emissions generated to produce a built asset – is a vital part of the world’s race to net zero carbon. But how can project planners find the best route to those reductions, and then verify that this was achieved?

WSP supported this on the City Rail Link underground stations, tunnels, and rail systems project in Auckland NZ, helping meet goals of a 15 percent embodied carbon reduction from the original plans, through a “digital twin.” A computerized model of the project, the “twin” allows testing of a range of materials and methods in a virtual environment. As a result, potential problems and opportunities can be identified and resolved on a computer screen rather than later on site.

The digital twin also supports life cycle analysis of the project – not just in construction and materials used, but in operation and at the end of the project’s useful life.

Upgrading the Bruce Highway means smoother traffic in Queensland, Australia

A vital part of Australia’s highway network is now safer and more efficient due to redesign and upgrade work along the Bruce Highway in Queensland. 

The Bruce Highway is a key part of life in Queensland, Australia, running north from Brisbane, tying communities together along the coast. But this road is also known for traffic congestion, safety issues and other problems.

WSP was commissioned in 2018 to deliver designs for an upgrade on part of the road south of Sunshine Coast.

This included steps to keep local traffic separated from the long distance freight traffic passing through the area, and providing more pedestrian and cyclist connectivity.

To gain a better understanding of motorist behaviour, we developed a Virtual Reality (VR) ‘digital twin’ of two key interchanges. We recruited 48 members of the public and tested more than 244 drives through various scenarios using wrap-around headsets. By monitoring near misses, late lane changes and sudden braking, the team could deliver the best solutions for the project's design and create the best end user experience.

Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel fosters use of public transit

Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel project will foster higher use of sustainable public transit in and out of the core of the city. WSP supports this work in many ways.

The Melbourne Metro Tunnel Environmental Monitor (MMTEM) is a key component of $10.9 billion Melbourne Metro Tunnel Project, twin nine-kilometre tunnels which will deliver a new dedicated pathway through the heart of the city for two of Melbourne’s busiest rail lines, creating space for more trains to run more often across Melbourne’s rail network.

Underground transportation projects tend to be complex. That’s even more so when they probe under the core of a major city, with a need to protect structures overhead, while still allowing public access to a passenger rail network.

WSP is playing an integral role as part of a team to deliver the tunnels, civil engineering, structures, mechanical and electrical rail infrastructure, and security and blast assessment.  

As well, we helped develop a way to manage the impacts of the project, through the Melbourne Liveability Monitor. This is a Cloud-based Internet of Things (IOT) monitoring platform which receives, aggregates and analyses data from sound, vibration, and air quality sensors, to enable communication with devices in the MMTEM Sensor Network. It has a streaming analytics engine, responsible for aggregating and validating telemetry, performing complex pattern analysis and forwarding results.

The Monitor helps alert managers to potential problems, keeping good relations with the many stakeholders with an interest in this ongoing project, supporting a more sustainable city of Melbourne.

Advanced information tools enhance Helsingborg city life 

The Swedish city of Helsingborg seeks to become a showcase of how information technology can improve energy efficiency, security and sustainability. 

Helsingborg, on the west coast of Sweden, has plans to become a leader in “smart city” development. The city has embarked on a five-year program based on the Internet of Things (IoT) to transform city life.

This includes a plan for smart lighting, connecting 30,000 light posts to improve citizen security and energy efficiency. This is part of a city-wide IoT platform that will connect sensory devices to allow collection and cross-analysis of data.

To support this, WSP has brought together a team of experts, including specialists in data, IoT development, Operations and Maintenance, GIS, and database design. Our work will include high-level design for upgrading the city’s existing GIS platform, system integration, training and support, wireless communication platform, and IoT specification and lighting with consideration for nature and wildlife.

This will deepen understanding of energy consumption, travel patterns and smart city management, supporting Helsingborg’s drive to create an exemplar of sustainability and liveability.

Reusing existing foundations cuts embodied carbon in London building

Owners of a new highrise in London had high targets for sustainability. Innovative engineering by WSP, including re-using existing foundations, helped serve this priority. 

Property developers seeking to develop a mixed-use tower in the City of London saw a potential opportunity at an abandoned construction site – a chance to create something better. 

One problem: an earlier failed construction project had left behind a three-story basement with nine floors of concrete core.  

Rather than demolishing the existing structure and beginning again, our team found a way to successfully re-use all of the existing foundations and half of the basement, to reduce the embodied carbon in the foundations of the new building by 70 percent. 

With our client keen to make their building smart as well as sustainable, our Smart Places team looked for ways to integrate systems including technical electrical systems, security and fire systems, to benefit future users. 

This building at 22 Bishopsgate, the second-tallest in Western Europe, is an example of how innovative use of existing assets, plus a focus on reducing the carbon footprint of the operating building, supports the goal of net zero carbon.

Driving sustainability through ESG metrics software implementation

A global company needed to track progress and set priorities for improving sustainability. We helped them select, customize, and implement a software platform to achieve this.

The digital transformation of the sustainability program of a global food and beverage company is moving faster thanks to a software platform WSP* implemented. This platform includes data management for greenhouse gas emissions, utilities, environmental, health and safety, quality, and climate across various business units, for over 1,400 facilities globally.  

Through a series of workshops, testing, and training sessions, we worked with internal corporate and site level stakeholders to select and customize a software solution that would meet site specific and organizational unit reporting requirements, and sustainability goals.  

The new system replaced several legacy systems. It provides an improved centralized data source for reporting purposes, including global sustainability reporting such as CDP, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).  Our digital solutions, sustainability, and environment experts have enabled the prioritization and implementation of follow up actions.

The new platform supports our food and beverage client through more informed decision-making and enables communications of their business actions to support ESG strategy.

*At the time of the project, work was contracted to Golder, which was later acquired by WSP.