Impact of Location Selection on Whole Life Carbon of a Multi-National Manufacturing Facility

<p dir="ltr">Global companies locate new facilities to suit their market opportunities and budgetary costs, however, with increasing expectations to cut emissions and with expectations to meet net-zero commitments, selecting sites based on resulting whole-life emissions is becoming a realistic consideration for business decision-making. This paper documents a series of scenario-based whole-life carbon modelling studies undertaken to review the design and carbon emissions implications of geographical choices that a multinational manufacturing corporation might consider when selecting locations for new product expansion. Initially, a new UK-based manufacturing facility was modelled at RIBA stages 4 to 5, then the same production line parameters were “transported” to five other plausible locations based on the company’s anticipated market outlet for the product. The building was modelled with alternative key supply chain environmental product declarations for embodied impact, considered energy performance expectations to meet local regulatory mandates, solar power potential and grid energy mix. Considerable variation was found to result over a 60-year design life depending on the choice of location for a proposed new facility development. The findings will be of interest to businesses that wish to strategize energy consumption and emissions globally and design teams delivering their projects.</p>