Sheffield engineer leads UK industry with first CIBSE Whole Life Carbon Assessor certification

A Sheffield sustainability engineer has become the first professional to qualify under CIBSE’s new Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA) certification scheme, marking a significant milestone as the construction industry prepares for stricter carbon reporting requirements.

Samuel Eric Ehiabhi, sustainability engineer at Services Design Associates (SDA), achieved the landmark certification under the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers’ new certification scheme, which has been launched to raise standards in measuring the lifetime carbon impact of buildings.

The scheme plays a key role in the built environment and aims to measure and evaluate the total greenhouse gas emissions of a building over its entire lifecycle, from raw material extraction, through construction and operation, to its eventual demolition and disposal. The assessments are expected to play an increasingly important role as the industry moves towards greater carbon accountability and prepares for the anticipated introduction of Part Z to the Building Regulations.

The new CIBSE certification scheme has been introduced ahead of these regulatory changes to ensure a pipeline of qualified professionals is in place as whole life carbon assessments become more widely embedded within planning policy, regulation and client requirements.

As the scheme’s first certified assessor, Samuel is now qualified to deliver independently verified whole life carbon assessments, helping clients accurately measure, understand and reduce the carbon impact of their developments.

On his certification, Samuel said: “I think WLCA’s are critical to the industry now as it moves towards more stringent carbon reduction requirements and due to the need of clients to understand, accurately quantify, and mitigate the whole life carbon impact of their developments.

“Ultimately, I believe WLCA is the tool that will move the industry from carbon awareness to carbon accountability, and thus drive innovation throughout the supply chain and support the delivery of genuinely low-carbon developments.”

Kieran O’Brien, CIBSE Certification Director said: “WLCA certification provides valuable third-party assurance, giving stakeholders confidence in WLCA reports and the assessor’s competence and professionalism.”

“Samuel is already well known to us as an active low carbon consultant and low carbon energy assessor, and we are delighted he has taken this step to develop his capabilities.”