Carbon Footprinting on

Further information
Skanska AB
www.skanska.com
Contact
Noel Morrin,
SVP Sustainability &
Highway Projects – examples
from Norway, Sweden and UK
Green Support
noel.morrin@skanska.se

Case Study 83 Skanska uses carbon footprinting tools to benchmark the carbon emissions of
highway projects and to help identify low-carbon project options.

Aspects of
Sustainability
This project highlights
the following:

Social Aspects
Human Resources
Corporate Community
Involvement
Business Ethics
Health and Safety

Environmental Aspects
Energy and Climate
Materials
Ecosystems
Local Impacts

Economic Aspects
Project Selection
Supply Chain
Value Added

Project Introduction and waste management. A carbon footprint can

Clients are increasingly demanding carbon
footprinting services, which are fundamental
components of Skanska’s Journey to Deep
GreenTM and Color PaletteTM. Skanska uses various
techniques to calculate the carbon footprint of
highway projects in Norway, Sweden and the UK.
In addition to local tools, Skanska has developed
a Group-wide project carbon footprinting tool, as
part of its Green Toolbox, to support project teams
and Business Units that do not have an established
footprinting tool already.
The carbon footprint of a highway project can
be defined as the total carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions resulting from the extraction of raw
materials, manufacture of construction materials,
transportation of materials to the site, and on site
activities related to on site transportation, plant
machinery, electricity and fuel consumption,
May 2011 83CS : V1
also be expressed in carbon dioxide equivalent
(CO2e), which is a measure of how much global
warming a given quantity of the six greenhouse
gases may cause by using CO2 as a reference. The
term “carbon” is commonly used when referring
generically to either CO2 or CO2e emissions.
A carbon footprint can be divided into embodied
carbon and operational carbon. Embodied
carbon is the total carbon emissions related to
construction materials and construction activities,
and operational carbon denotes the emissions
associated with the electrical consumption of
a highway during its operational lifespan. The
scope of a highway’s carbon footprint can differ
depending on the nature of the project, and
operational carbon is often not measured when
Skanska is not involved in the operation and
maintenance of the highway.

The proportion of
emissions from each project
4 February 2011. The project involved the widening
39
57
E6 Labbdalen - Norway
4 potential carbon savings throughout the project.
26
70
E42 project - Sweden
11
13
76
M25 Widening Scheme - UK
extraction and manufacture
of the construction materials
Site machinery and vehicles
transportation of
construction materials
May 2011 83CS : V1
Norway
Skanska Norway used a carbon footprinting tool
on the E6 Labbdalen – Skaberud project. Skanska
was the general contractor of the US$ 18 million
project for the Norwegian Highway Agency and the
project was carried out between January 2009 and
of a 1,800 m stretch of highway to deal with heavy
traffic and the creation of a 2 m wide highway
median. Skanska Norway used its own carbon
footprinting tool on the project, which is similar
to the Skanska AB tool and collected data directly
from suppliers.
The total carbon footprint of the project was
calculated to be 4,056 ton CO2e. The extraction
and manufacture of the construction materials
were responsible for 2,297 ton CO2e or 57 percent
of the total footprint. Site machinery and vehicles
created 1,561 ton CO2e in emissions for the use of
diesel fuel, which equated to 39 percent of the total
footprint. The remaining carbon emissions resulted
from the transportation of construction materials
(160 ton CO2e), waste management (21 ton CO2e)
and site electricity (38 ton CO2e).
Sweden
Skanska Sweden used its own footprinting tool,
known as ECO2, on the E42 project, which passes
through the town of Surte and will be completed
in 2012. The project involves laying new water and
sewage pipes and the redevelopment of 2 km of
streets in central Surte. The carbon footprint was
made to raise awareness and understanding about
carbon emissions on street improvement projects
and to help reduce the carbon impacts of similar
projects in the future. Skanska Sweden also plans
to conduct carbon footprinting analyses on other
civil projects.
The total footprint of the project was estimated
to be 1,818 ton CO2e. 1,265 ton CO2e or around
70 percent of the footprint resulted from the
extraction and manufacture of the project’s
construction materials. Transportation of the
materials to the site created 73 ton CO2e, or
4 percent of the footprint, and the project’s
machinery and equipment were responsible for
480 ton CO2e, or 26 percent of the footprint.
UK
Skanska UK is using a carbon calculation tool
on the US$ 1.65 billion M25 Widening Scheme,
near London, which involves the widening of 60
km of the M25 highway between Junctions 16-23
(Section 1), Junctions 27-30 (Section 4) and the
refurbishment of Hatfield Tunnel. The project
is being carried out as part of a Design, Build,
Finance, Operate (DBFO) contract for the UK
Highways Agency, which includes the highway’s
operation and maintenance over a 30-year
concession period worth US$ 6.5 billion.
The team used the Highways Agency Carbon
Calculation tool and calculated the project’s total
carbon footprint to be 272,800 ton CO2e. The
carbon footprint calculated that 207,000 ton CO2e
or 76 percent would result from the embodied
carbon and transportation of construction
materials. Staff commuting and business travel
amounted to around 35,000 ton CO2e or 13
percent of the footprint, and the on site use of
electricity, gas and diesel for 30,000 ton CO2e or
11 percent. Waste resulted in 273 ton CO2e or 0.01
percent of the footprint. The project has focussed
on managing and reducing its embodied carbon,
and the tool has played a vital role in indentifying
Contributing Toward
Sustainable Development
Carbon footprinting can help to identify and
promote low-carbon project options that have
the potential to make carbon savings. Low-carbon
project options can involve reducing carbon
emissions related to materials, logistics, site
activities, design options and waste management.
Furthermore, carbon footprinting can promote
cost-efficient projects by using resources more
efficiently, and can benefit the regional economy by
selectively promoting the use of local construction
materials that create relatively low transport-related
carbon emissions. The results from a project’s
carbon footprint can also be used to benchmark
performance and realize carbon reductions on
similar projects in the future.
 Social Aspects
Project partner collaboration
Carbon footprinting requires that the client,
subcontractors and supply chain are all involved in
the collection of carbon data and the realization of
carbon savings. Skanska UK works closely with the
Highways Agency on the M25 project to identify
low-carbon solutions compared with standard
practice solutions. Skanska also report carbon
emission data and any realized carbon savings
to the entire project team on a monthly basis.
Raising sustainability knowledge
and awareness
All three projects featured in this case study
pioneered the use of carbon footprinting tools on
highway projects. The projects have consequently
raised knowledge and awareness of carbon and
climate issues within the Skanska Business Units
and among the project partners and supply
chains. The concerned Business Units can build
on their experience of carbon footprinting on
future highway projects and also share their
knowledge with other Business Units. The M25
project team has made suggestions to the Skanska
UK Environmental Department on how carbon-
related knowledge from the project could be shared
through activity sheets, the establishment of a
carbon working group, business improvement fora
and lunch & learn sessions.
Long-term approach
Carbon footprinting can promote a long-term
approach to highway projects if the lifespan
carbon impacts are considered. The DBFO nature
of the M25 project, for example, ensures that
decisions are made from a long-term and whole
May 2011 83CS : V1
life performance perspective, which has brought
significant benefit to the project.
Economic Aspects
Regional construction materials
and subcontractors
Carbon footprinting can help to identify
regionally sourced materials that may have lower
transport-related emissions, and also benefit the
local economy. However, it should be noted that
procurement options should be analyzed on a
case-by-case basis as local materials and services
may not necessarily offer the lowest embodied and
transportation-related carbon emissions. The M25
project sources construction materials from the
closest suppliers where possible to make transport-
related carbon emission savings, and benefit the
regional economy. Local materials sourced for the
M25 project included aggregates.
Promoting cost-efficient projects
Low-carbon materials and design solutions can
result in financial savings for highway projects.
For example, the M25 project is using 2 million
tons of recycled aggregate from construction and
demolition materials from the London area. The
processing of recycled aggregate is less carbon
intensive than virgin aggregate and will save around
9,000 ton CO2e of embodied carbon throughout
the project. At approximately US$ 8 per ton,
recycled aggregate also costs around 60 percent less
to manufacture than virgin aggregate. Furthermore,
the recycled aggregate is processed on site, which
avoids a further 25,000 ton CO2e of transport-
related carbon emissions and generates greater
employment on site.
 Financial savings from reduced operational
carbon emissions
Carbon-conscious highway projects may seek
to reduce operational carbon emissions by
incorporating energy efficient street lighting, which
translates directly into financial savings throughout
the lifespan of the highway. The E6 and the M25
projects, for example, both experimented with
low-carbon street lighting design solutions.
Environmental Aspects
Reducing site emissions
Highway projects are machine intensive and
the emissions generated on-site account for a
significant proportion of a highway project’s total
carbon footprint. On the E6 project in Norway,
39 percent of the project’s total carbon footprint
was generated by on site machinery that used
diesel fuel. 29 percent of the E42 project’s total
emissions were generated by on-site machinery
and vehicles, including around 17 percent, which
was generated by excavation machinery on site.
Highway projects could therefore reduce their
carbon footprint by using more efficient or low-
emission site machinery, and fuels such as biodiesel
or environmentally certified diesel. The E6 project
consumed 105,000 kWh of electricity, which
generated 38 ton CO2e. Highway projects could
therefore also reduce their footprint by sourcing
electricity from renewable sources. However,
electricity consumption on the E6 project only
accounted for 1 percent of the project’s total
carbon footprint.
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Promoting low-carbon construction materials
The extraction and manufacture of construction
materials was responsible for the greatest
proportion of carbon emissions on both the
Norwegian and Swedish projects. In Norway, the
processing and manufacture of crushed stone,
steel, concrete and asphalt were responsible for 57
percent of the project’s total footprint, with crushed
stone generating over 15 percent of the footprint.
In Sweden, the manufacture and transportation of
asphalt alone was responsible for 21 percent of the
project’s total carbon footprint. Highway projects
can therefore reduce their carbon emissions by
using materials with low-embodied carbon, such
as recycled aggregate and steel. For example, the
M25 project used 2.3 million tons of recycled
aggregate, including 1.2 million tons of processed
demolition waste from other construction sites,
which amounted to 92 percent of the aggregate
used on the project and saved approximately 35,000
ton CO2e compared with virgin materials. As
described in the Economic Impacts section, the use
of recycled aggregate can also result in significant
financial savings. The M25 project also sourced
sheet piles that were manufactured from 100
percent scrap steel using a highly efficient electric
arc furnace, which reduces the embodied carbon
by 75 percent and saved 7,722 ton CO2e. Carbon
footprinting can be a vital tool to identify such
materials with low-embodied carbon.
Reducing transport-related carbon emissions
Highway projects typically involve the
transportation of large quantities of heavy
material to the site. 30 tons of asphalt was
 transported 200 km to the E6 site in Norway,
for example, which accounted for 4 percent of
the project’s total footprint. Sourcing materials
from more local suppliers can reduce transport-
related carbon emissions.
Low-carbon design options
Carbon footprinting tools can be used to identify
low-carbon design solutions for highway structures
and solutions. The M25 project incorporated
AZ profile sheet piles with a king sheet pile
system, which involve long sheet piles with a
short intermediate pile. The solution reduced
the amount of steel required by 25 percent and
avoided 1,570 ton CO2e compared with the
alternative design solution during the first phase
of the project. Existing highway structures were
refurbished and reused in the M25 project,
including the incorporation of 6 km of existing
vertical concrete barriers into the new central
reservation, which saved 336 ton CO2e. The M25
project also reused the existing pavement where
possible by overlaying a 35 mm wearing course,
which will save 600,000 tons of asphalt and 39,600
ton CO2e in total during the project.
Waste management
Waste-related carbon emissions typically amount
to a small fraction of the total carbon footprint on
highway projects as many waste materials can be
reused on site as backfill. For example, waste was
only responsible for 0.5 percent of the E6 project’s
footprint in Norway. The M25 project designed
out waste and used lean construction processes to
minimize the amount of waste generated during
construction. The project created 1.36 tons of
waste per US$ 160K (£100K) turnover, compared
with the UK Contractors Group (UKCG) target
May 2011 83CS : V1
of 8.11 tons per US$ 160K (£100K). Furthermore,
the M25 project is a net importer of waste, by
incorporating 2.3 million tons of construction
and demolition waste from other local projects, in
comparison with only 14,000 tons of the project’s
waste treated off site.
Promoting energy efficient lighting
Highway projects often involve street lighting
and have the potential to reduce operational
carbon emissions throughout the lifespan of the
highway by selecting energy efficient lighting
options. The E6 project in Norway, for example,
was a highway Research and Development
initiative that experimented with such technology
as energy efficient LED (Light Emitting Diode)
street lighting. 2 W LED light fittings were
used to produce the same lighting frequency as
conventional 250 W lamps. The M25 team plans
to maintain some sections of the highway as unlit,
which account for around a third of the scheme.
By doing so the project will save 36 MWh of
energy and 13,500 ton CO2e over the project’s
30-year concession period. Solar highway lights is
also being trialed on the M25 project, which are
designed to be zero net energy by feeding electricity
to the grid during the day.
Learning From Good Practice
The carbon footprinting of highway projects is
still in its infancy. However, the knowledge and
experience gathered on projects, such as those
described in this case study, are a useful basis to
carry out more comprehensive footprinting studies
and realize significant lifecycle carbon reductions
on future projects.