MISSISSAUGA, ONT. — EllisDon, in partnership with the University of Toronto (U of T), has secured a $2.4-million grant to develop a Carbon Accounting Tool through the TargetGHG Collaborative research and development program.
The program is supported by Ontario Centres of Excellence and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
EllisDon engaged U of T to develop a fully working beta version of the Carbon Accounting Tool over the course of the three-year program.
According to a release, as part of the Carbon Impact Initiative Action Plan, launched by EllisDon in June 2016, the objective of the tool is to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated during the entire lifecycle of a new-build or retrofit project.
There are currently no such tools on the market that incorporates the breadth and complexity of this information capture, tracking and analytical capability, adds the release.
“This tool will be imperative in transforming the construction industry and its associated supply chain into a low carbon sector,” said Natasha Arsenijevich, program co-ordinator of the Carbon Impact Initiative for EllisDon, in a statement.
“Once we are able to quantify and confidently determine the most adverse materials and processes, we can strategically prioritize our response and take meaningful steps toward climate change mitigation.”
“What we’re building is a decision-support tool that can be used in the early stages of design and planning,” added Heather MacLean, one of five U of T Engineering professors involved in the project.
“Ultimately, the goal is to produce infrastructure with much lower greenhouse gas impact.”
The tool will help identify areas where GHG emissions are highest and provide comprehensive solutions and strategies to achieve optimal GHG reductions.
Once completed, EllisDon will incorporate the tool into all of its projects for testing in preparation for commercialization of the product, the release notes.
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