Changes to London Plan Guidance: Whole Life-Cycle Carbon Assessments

In March 2022, the Greater London Authority (GLA) made updates to their whole life carbon assessment guidance. These changes represent a significant shift in the way that building projects in London are assessed for their carbon impact, and are therefore important for all London-based building projects.

The first change to the guidance is the introduction of a new standard demolition assumption of 50 kgCO2e/m2 gross internal area (GIA) for the existing area. This assumption represents the carbon emissions associated with the demolition and clearance of the existing building, and is used to calculate the overall carbon impact of the project. The previous standard assumption was 10 kgCO2e/m2 GIA, meaning that the new assumption represents a significant increase in the carbon impact of the demolition phase.

Another key change to the guidance is the requirement that the CIBSE TM65 is followed where possible. This is due to a gap in the availability of building services Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). The CIBSE TM65 is a guidance document that provides a method for assessing the embodied carbon impact of building services, and will help to ensure that all aspects of the building’s carbon impact are considered during the assessment.

The updated guidance also requires that a third-party quality check quantities and calculations if quality assurance mechanisms are utilized. This is an important step in ensuring that the assessment is accurate and reliable, and will help to increase confidence in the assessment results.

In addition to these changes, the guidance now aligns with the circular economy statement submitted during the planning submission, and the grid decarbonization study has been removed. These changes reflect a growing focus on the circular economy and the importance of considering the entire life cycle of a building project when assessing its impact.

At our consultancy, we are committed to helping our clients navigate these changes by carrying out life cycle assessments that follow GLA guidance. We provide our clients with support during the planning application stage, ensuring that they are in compliance with the latest regulations and contributing to a more sustainable future for London. Our expert team can assist with every aspect of the assessment, from data collection to carbon impact calculations, and can help our clients to identify opportunities to reduce the carbon impact of their projects.