Using early phase carbon assessment to win proposals
For sophisticated clients, projects with a coherent and defensible carbon strategy win against those that don't. C.Scale keeps you ahead of the competition.
When is the client paying attention?
Sophisticated clients pay the closest attention at the start. The interview, the proposal, and the first design reviews are when the owner is weighing big choices and is open to being persuaded. They are deciding whether to renovate or build new, how big to build, and what kind of building they want to own. Later, the client’s attention moves to cost, schedule, and change orders, and a carbon conversation becomes a request for more money.
What does a winning carbon strategy look like?
A coherent carbon strategy is a short set of paths with the tradeoffs visible. On the AIA national headquarters, EHDD’s proposal showed three. Efficiency alone, electrification with rooftop solar, and electrification with local offsets each produced a different emissions curve to 2050, and the client could see which path got them to net zero and when. Rebecca Sharkey, EHDD’s design principal, said the proposal-stage modeling “set us apart, as we were up against the best firms in the country.” EHDD won the commission.
Does it change what clients decide?
A clear carbon strategy can change what clients decide. Timothy Lock, management partner at OPAL used C.Scale graphics to convince a client to pursue adaptive reuse of an existing building. Reuse is one of the biggest carbon decisions a project makes, and it is made in the very first meetings. Jennifer Wehling, director of sustainability at HMC Architects says C.Scale “helps clients clearly understand how different choices will influence the project’s long-term impacts.”
What does the client need to see?
The client needs to see the baseline, two or three alternatives, and what each one costs in carbon over the life of the building. Clear graphics and a defensible method help more than precise figures, because at concept the numbers are ranges and the decision is about direction. C.Scale exports charts and project reports a team can put straight into a proposal or a design review.
What does it take to be ready?
Being ready means starting before the meeting. In C.Scale, six inputs give you a baseline, and about ten minutes gets you three scenarios. A team that walks into the proposal with those has a carbon strategy it can defend while the client is still deciding what to build.