CIBSE and Cerclos to feed TM65 Verified embodied carbon data into eTool

The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and software company Cerclos have agreed a partnership to integrate CIBSE TM65 Verified embodied carbon data into eTool, Cerclos's whole-life carbon assessment software.

CIBSE said the verified data would be made available directly within eTool through an application programming interface (API). It said this was the first time it had made independently verified data available through an API.

The integration is not yet live and neither party has given a go-live date. Once it is running, CIBSE said, designers would be able to call up verified embodied carbon figures for certified mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) products without having to source, check or manually input them.

Ben Arnold, Software Product Manager at CIBSE, said: "This partnership marks an important milestone for CIBSE, as we make independently verified data available through an API for the first time."

The data gap

CIBSE said many MEP products do not have Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), and that self-declared figures can vary in quality and reliability. Cerclos made a similar point, saying relatively few MEP products carry an EPD.

CIBSE's TM65 methodology, published in 2021, gives a consistent approach to estimating embodied carbon when no EPD is available, according to Cerclos.

The verified figures come from the Embodied Carbon Verification (ECV) scheme, which CIBSE Certification, a wholly owned CIBSE subsidiary, administers. CIBSE Certification describes it as an ISO 17065 based scheme developed with CIBSE, and says it is the only CIBSE-endorsed scheme for verifying TM65 embodied carbon data for MEP products.

Cerclos said the scheme already includes more than 500 individual products from established MEP manufacturers.

Chris de Josselin, Chief Executive Officer at Cerclos, said: "Putting independently verified CIBSE TM65 data directly into eTool means designers can model real MEP products with confidence, compare options on a like-for-like basis and make decisions that deliver the greatest carbon savings."

Scheme scope

According to CIBSE Certification, the ECV scheme covers products used for heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, electrical and public health, but excludes non-standard equipment such as photovoltaics. It covers the current TM65 variants, including TM65LA, TM65UAE, TM65ANZ and TM65NA.

Certification covers product families for three years. CIBSE's announcement describes annual audits over that period to maintain confidence in the data, while CIBSE Certification's scheme page refers to annual surveillance.

What the data will do in eTool

Cerclos said the verified figures would support three functions within eTool: hotspot analysis to identify where carbon impacts are concentrated, scenario optioneering to compare alternative products and system designs, and life cycle costing that considers carbon and cost together over a building's design life.

Cerclos says eTool aligns with PAS 2080, ISO 15978, ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, and that more than $100bn worth of mega projects use the software. The company changed its name from eTool to Cerclos on 13 February 2023.

Manufacturers and designers

For manufacturers, CIBSE said products certified through the ECV scheme would gain greater exposure within the software platforms engineers and designers use for whole-life carbon assessments. Arnold said the integration would also help manufacturers gain greater value from the scheme.

For designers and specifiers, CIBSE said the link would make it easier to identify and use reliable embodied carbon data for real MEP products within existing assessment workflows.

CIBSE Certification's ECV scheme certifies product families for a three-year period.