The Essex Embodied Carbon Policy Study provides the technical evidence to support the development of a consistent planning policy approach towards reducing embodied carbon emissions from the construction of new homes and buildings in Essex and enabling Essex to transition to a more resource efficient, circular economy where waste is minimised.

Embodied Carbon accounts for a significant proportion of a buildings’ whole life carbon; it includes emissions related to raw material supply, manufacturing and transport, construction process and demolition and disposal.

Reducing the embodied carbon of a building does not necessarily mean higher capital costs. Contrary to this, adopting strategies such as lean and circular economy design can reduce capital costs.

Reducing embodied carbon emissions is important for meeting local and national climate targets, including the Essex Climate Action Commission target for all new development to be carbon positive by 2030.

Currently Building Regulations does not address embodied carbon and to fill this gap, forward thinking local authorities are tackling embodied carbon emissions from the built environment through the planning system.

The Embodied Carbon Policy Study:
• examines the need for developing embodied carbon planning policies in local plans;
• defines the different scopes of embodied carbon;
• examines industry guidance, and how embodied carbon can be addressed through planning and design of development;
• reviews current planning policies in adopted and emerging local plans;
• provides policy recommendations that complement the Essex Operational Energy and Carbon (Net Zero) policy and evidence base;
• provides the technical modelling and cost analysis that sits behind the policy recommendations;
• includes implementation advice and guidance.

Following scrutiny through local plan consultation and examination, the presentation of the conclusions relating to the cost implications of the policy recommendations were reviewed. The result was that key pages of the Study Report needed to be more clearly presented.  Therefore, the original June 2024 Study (available on the archive list below) has been re-issued in September 2025 to incorporate updated pages.  

The Study underpins the Embodied Carbon and Circular Economy Planning Policy Statement (October 2025) available here.

The Essex Embodied Carbon Policy Study is published as ‘open source’ and the Essex authorities hope that it will form a valuable evidence resource for local authorities beyond Essex and for industry, stakeholders and national policy makers.

The Embodied Carbon Policy Study report is available below:

Essex Embodied Carbon Policy Study - Technical Evidence Base (Levitt Bernstein, Etude, Introba, Hawkins/Brown, Currie & Brown, June 2024, Re-issued September 2025).

 

Archived Documents (have been superseded but the direct links retained to allow partners time to update links embedded in other documents)

• Essex Embodied Carbon Policy Study Technical Evidence June 2024