The Energy Saving Trust's Housing programme has launched their new Envest for Housing web-tool.

As buildings become more energy-efficient, the ratio of embodied CO2 (the environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of a building) to lifetime consumption rises.

The Energy Saving Trust Housing programme presents a new tool called Envest for Housing to help the industry keep abreast of the impact of embodied CO2. By inputting basic design numbers - height of building, number of storeys, window area and so on, together with choice of materials, such as roof covering and external walls, developers can see the impact of each element.

Numerous benchmarks have been made available within the tool. These enable designers to compare their projects to UK standards. This then means developers can demonstrate the embodied CO2 credentials of different designs when making presentations to clients. For example, it's easy to compare traditional methods of construction with modern methods.

This is part of a soft-launch so if you experience any difficulties in using the software please let Stephen Passmore (stephen.passmore@est.org.uk) know so he can look into these and resolve them.

The tool can be accessed by using the link below.

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/business/Business/Building-Professionals/Helpful-Tools/Envest-for-Housing