HS2 to track infrastructure carbon with new standard

HS2 has achieved the global standard to manage whole-life carbon emissions as its develops the infrastructure to deliver the new high-speed rail network.

The PAS 2080 standard is developed by the Construction Leadership Council’s Green Construction Board with the British Standards Institute (BSI).

It provides a consistent framework for evaluating and managing carbon across the whole infrastructure value chain.

The standard recognises organisations that have strategies in place to reduce carbon and develop more collaborative ways of working to promote innovation, delivering benefit to society and communities, and making an important contribution to tackling climate change.

HS2 has set a 50% carbon reduction target on assets such as tunnels, viaducts and cuttings, along with stations and railway systems, to encourage the supply chain to innovate to reduce carbon.

By applying PAS 2080 during design, construction and operation, HS2 will cut emissions, minimise resource consumption and use low carbon alternatives wherever possible, reducing the project’s carbon footprint. 

For example, designers have achieved a 27% reduction in the structural steel required to build the roof of Old Oak Common station.

Following tests, the team of structural design engineers and architects found that the structure of the station roof could be modified to allow for 27% less material to be used, with a total steel reduction of over 1,000 tonnes.

This is equivalent to a 2,700 tonne reduction in carbon, and a cost saving of £7m.