PAS 2080:2016

PAS 2080:2023 is now available. Learn more about the revision to this standard and download your free copy here. 

What is PAS 2080 - Requirements of carbon management in infrastructure about?  

PAS 2080 discusses carbon management in infrastructure. Carbon management is about taking steps to measure and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within your organisation and extend the reduction of emissions across your supply chain.  

PAS 2080 specifies requirements for the management of whole life carbon in infrastructure – defined as the transport, energy, water, waste and communications, sectors – both in the provision of new infrastructure assets and programmes of work and the refurbishment of existing infrastructure. 

Because of the evidence included in the Infrastructure Carbon Review that reduced carbon infrastructure is related to reduced cost, PAS 2080 has been developed to: 

• Provide a specification for infrastructure carbon management which is compatible with international and sectoral norms, relevant existing standards, and guidance, with the view of reducing whole life carbon in infrastructure delivery 
• Bringing consistency to the practice of carbon management 
• Encouraging wider uptake and action on carbon management 
• Helping the infrastructure value chain to become more efficient – to reduce carbon and cost in infrastructure delivery 
• Improving the accuracy, transparency, consistency, relevance, and completeness of carbon management and GHG emissions quantification 
• Improving the knowledge and understanding of carbon management by infrastructure practitioners throughout the value chain 
• Supporting evidence-based decision making and identification of opportunities for carbon reduction 

Who is PAS 2080 - Requirements of carbon management in infrastructure for? 

PAS 2080 on requirements of carbon management in infrastructure is useful for: 

• Carbon management organizations 
• Quality control personnel 

Why should you use PAS 2080 - Requirements of carbon management in infrastructure?  

Carbon management technologies aim to manage anthropogenic releases of greenhouse gases, such as those associated with the combustion of fossil fuel use, in an effort to mitigate the potential impacts of these emissions on climate systems. The Infrastructure Carbon Review (ICR)1 showed that infrastructure is associated with over half of UK Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions 30% of which are directly attributed to the construction, operation, and maintenance of infrastructure assets (emissions that infrastructure directly controls) and 70% of which are attributed to the users of infrastructure (emissions over which infrastructure has influence). PAS 2080 illustrates the importance of infrastructure in relation to the overall challenge of reducing national carbon emissions targets. Reducing carbon emissions associated with infrastructure is fundamental to addressing the global challenge of climate change. PAS 2080 is applicable to anyone involved in the delivery of infrastructure, including asset owners/managers, designers, constructors, and product/material suppliers.  

Complying with the requirements of PAS 2080 will help all value chain members understand and manage carbon associated with the development of infrastructure from its inception to the end of its life and are equally applicable to individual assets or to programmes. PAS 2080 sets out the general principles and components of a carbon management process, to promote carbon and cost reduction in infrastructure delivery on a whole life basis. The individual clauses of the PAS are arranged in accordance with the components illustrated in PAS 2080. Achieving carbon reductions in infrastructure depends on robust leadership and governance and the integration of the key carbon management process components (i.e., baseline and target setting, monitoring, quantification, reporting and continuous improvement) into existing infrastructure delivery processes. Developing and implementing a carbon management process within infrastructure delivery processes will help join up the value chain, create a strong innovation culture, challenge the current status quo, and thereby maximise reductions in both carbon and cost. Using PAS 2080 you can specify requirements for the management of whole life carbon in infrastructure.