Embodied Carbon and Energy Trade-offs in Optimising Building Systems

As the construction and building services industry strives to meet Net Zero Carbon goals, design professionals face the pressing challenge of balancing embodied carbon with operational energy efficiency. This blog explores the findings from the 2025 CIBSE Technical Symposium, highlighting two innovative studies that address this trade-off, followed by how VEXO’s filtration and building management technologies support the low-carbon transition. 

Whole Life Carbon and Lifecycle Costing in Pipework Systems 

Presented by: Esam Elsarrag, Oliver Butcher, James Ford (Hoare Lea) 

With building systems playing a critical role in long-term emissions, this paper introduces a novel tool for evaluating the whole life carbon (WLC) and lifecycle cost (LCC) of insulated pipework systems used in domestic hot water (DHW) and heating. 

Key Takeaways: 
  • Materials Matter: Plastic pipes offer the lowest embodied carbon, while copper and stainless steel have higher WLC but superior durability. 
  • Insulation Trade-offs: Increasing insulation thickness significantly reduces operational energy losses, but the embodied carbon of insulation materials like phenolic foam must be considered. 
  • Integrated Design Tool: Using CIBSE and British Standards, a new modelling tool predicts WLC and LCC for different pipe-insulation combinations, supporting early-stage decision-making. 
  • Optimal Balance: The tool helps engineers find the sweet spot between capital cost, operational efficiency, and carbon savings. 

This study supports engineers in making smarter system design decisions, both economically and environmentally, especially in the context of decarbonising the UK’s electricity grid. 

Facade Design Carbon Trade-offs in Future UK Climates 

Presented by: Karolina Prusicka (Buro Happold, University of Sheffield) 

Facade design greatly affects both embodied and operational carbon. This research explores multi-objective optimisation (MOO) to evaluate facade options for a high-rise residential building in London under different future climate and grid decarbonisation scenarios. 

Key Findings: 
  • Window-to-Wall Ratio (WWR) is the single most impactful parameter on operational carbon, especially for future cooling-dominated climates. 
  • Shading Devices help reduce solar gain but can introduce significant embodied carbon. Their effectiveness is dependent on climate and grid assumptions. 
  • Glazing Choices: Triple glazing lowers operational energy but often adds more embodied carbon than it saves, particularly in scenarios with cleaner grids. 
  • Insulation: More insulation reduces operational energy, but increasing thickness must be weighed against added embodied carbon and cost. 
  • Material Selection: Low-carbon cladding like aluminium or limestone is preferable. Brick slips, though thermally superior, add excessive embodied carbon. 
Variation in the Embodied Carbon of optimal solutions can be up to 20 times higher than the variation in Operational Carbon

Overall, in a decarbonised future, embodied carbon becomes the dominant factor, highlighting the need for integrated assessments early in the design phase. 

How VEXO Supports Low Carbon Building Optimisation 

At VEXO, we understand the real-world complexity of balancing embodied and operational emissions. Our technologies offer a practical path to optimisation: 

X-POT Side Stream Filtration 

Our innovative side stream filtration system removes sludge, magnetite, and particulates, improving heating efficiency and reducing operational energy demand, especially critical when optimising LCC. 

Research peer-reviewed by CIBSE and ASHRAE has shed light on the significant energy savings that can be achieved by improving water quality and removing corrosion residuals. The X-POT® Side Stream Filtration system reduced pump energy consumption by an average of 19% in multiple system pressure scenarios. 

Smart Building Management System (BMS) 

VEXO’s BMS solution enables dynamic monitoring and control of HVAC and heating systems. This supports: 

  • Reduced energy waste 
  • Real-time fault detection 
  • Insight-driven maintenance 
  • Enhanced performance longevity

Let’s Optimise Together 

Whether you’re designing a low-carbon retrofit or a Net Zero new-build, VEXO’s team can help you evaluate solutions that minimise carbon, cut costs, and enhance building performance. 

Get in touch with us today to discuss your design requirements or book a free demo of our filtration and BMS technologies.

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