To maximise the amount of carbon your store in a biobased building, it is key to calculate the carbon storage of different designs quickly, easily and accurately. Having an accurate and understandable calculation method also enables everyone in the value chain, from developer to tendering municipality, to set clear goals. These two worlds, of design and goal-setting, come together in “Het Nieuwe Normaal” (The New Normal), a Dutch standard for sustainable and circular construction. Organisation throughout the Dutch construction sector use the standard as a way to truly examine their sustainability and circularity performance.
One of the indicators of The New Normal is Construction Stored Carbon, or “Materiaalgebonden CO2-opslag” in Dutch. We were asked to provide input for an update to this indicator and we figured its calculation method needed a quality of life boost. As a result, we published our “Bepalingsmethode Materiaalgebonden CO2-opslag” (only in Dutch for now) on January 26. This calculation method is now referred to in The New Normal standard, which also means that Dutch providers of building sustainability calculation software can use the method in their software. We expect calculations of Construction Stored Carbon to run more smoothly and efficiently from now, and for more actors to set goals related to carbon storage in buildings.