Chris Bradshaw
Vancouver, B.C.— In a decisive step towards making infrastructure more sustainable, Bentley Systems announced the launch of its new Carbon Analysis capabilities at the Year in Infrastructure Conference. The enhancements, available in the iTwin Experience platform, are aimed at simplifying carbon impact assessments, enabling engineers to systematically integrate carbon analysis into their design processes. The new features promise to streamline the traditionally complex task of carbon reporting by automatically aggregating data, integrating carbon metrics, and offering 3D visualizations of carbon impacts.
Chris Bradshaw, Bentley’s Chief Sustainability Officer, unveiled the Carbon Analysis capabilities at the conference, underscoring their role in addressing a critical aspect of global emissions—embodied carbon. “Given that up to 80% of today’s greenhouse gas emissions are linked to infrastructure, it’s essential that we find ways to significantly reduce the carbon impact of new construction projects and renovations,” said Bradshaw during an interview. “Our new capabilities help engineers visualize carbon data and make informed decisions early in the design process.”
Tackling Embodied Carbon
Embodied carbon refers to the greenhouse gases emitted during the construction of an asset, accounting for everything from material extraction to manufacturing. These emissions represent a significant portion of infrastructure’s environmental impact—often well before an asset is even put into operation. As Savina Carluccio, executive director of the International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure, highlighted, “By 2050, embodied carbon from new infrastructure could account for nearly half of the world’s carbon footprint.”
Bentley’s Carbon Analysis capabilities provide a “cradle-to-gate” assessment of embodied carbon, offering a more comprehensive understanding of an infrastructure project’s environmental cost. The system simplifies the integration of carbon data by linking Bentley’s iTwin platform with third-party carbon assessment tools, such as EC3 and One Click LCA. This approach allows users to dynamically visualize carbon impact changes across different design iterations, facilitating real-time decision-making.
