Designing for Whole Life Carbon: A Conversation with Helen Craven
As part of our commitment to sustainable building practices, we sat down with Helen Craven, who recently joined our Whole Life Carbon Assessor Scheme, to talk about why this work matters now more than ever.
What motivated you to join our WLCA scheme, and why do you feel Whole Life Carbon Assessments are so critical for the industry right now?
What a Whole Life Carbon Assessment gives us is visibility. It lets us actually see the embodied carbon in a scheme from day one, rather than treating it as an afterthought once the building's up. That means we can work with design teams to reduce impact during the build, not just operationally once it's finished and just as importantly, plan properly for what happens at end of life. Are we designing something that can be responsibly reused or disassembled, or are we designing something that's destined for landfill in thirty years? WLCA is what lets us answer that question with evidence instead of guesswork.
I chose to join the scheme through CIBSE specifically because of its standing in the industry. It's a well-respected, rigorous accreditation, and gaining this certification is a way of formally demonstrating that I can deliver this kind of assessment to the standard clients and project teams should expect. It's not just personal development, it's about being able to offer a service that genuinely moves projects toward better carbon outcomes.
Where do you see the biggest opportunities for carbon reduction in the next few years, materials, design, policy, something else?
Honestly, I think it's both materials and design working hand in hand. On the materials side, we have real influence over what gets specified: choosing lower-carbon alternatives, favouring reused or recycled content, and pushing back on default choices.
Design is where the long-term opportunity is. It's about asking the harder question early: Can components be recovered, reused, or repurposed at the end of life, rather than simply demolished and sent to landfill? I think that's where the next few years of real progress will com from, and it's exciting to be part of pushing the conversation forward.
What advice would you give to other sustainability professionals or engineers who are considering joining the scheme?
Do it.
Knowledge sharing is one of the most powerful tools we have in this industry. Carbon reduction isn't something any one person or company can solve, it only works if we're all working together to help the industry reduce our carbon usage which will protect the environment for generations to come.
Our conversation with Helen is clear, carbon reduction in our industry isn't going to come from a single breakthrough material or policy change. As our WLCA Scheme continues to grow, it highlights the opportunity to shape how our industry builds for the future.
View our Whole Life Carbon Assessor Scheme today.