Zero Ambitions Podcast Embodied carbon and how sustainable is MMC? With Richard O'Hegarty (RKD, UCD) and Oliver Kinnane (UCD)
Apr 7, 2025
01:26:46
Returning champions Richard O'Hegarty and Oliver Kinnane join us to discuss a recently co-authored paper: Understanding the embodied carbon credentials of modern methods of construction (MMC).
Get ready for a long meandering discussion that gets into what they learned and what they think about accounting practices for embodied carbon, as well as plenty of chatter about MMC and why we hate the term (but not what it is).
Notes from the show
- Richard O'Hegarty on LinkedIn
- Oliver Kinnane on LinkedIn
- A link to Richard's post about the paper and a link to Jeff's comment
- The paper itself: Understanding the embodied carbon credentials of modern methods of construction
- Their UCD webpage
- That Compromised insulation paper (**warning, sadly paywalled but check it if you can**)
- RKD's website
- The RKD and Hibernia Real Estate-produced paper: Understanding Net Zero Commercial Real Estate
- ZAP 8 May 2023: How should we calculate carbon and how long should a building last? With Dr Oliver Kinnane and Dr Richard O'Hegarty of University College Dublin
- ZAP 1 May 2023: MMC is value engineering that should benefit everyone, with Emma Elston and Amandeep Singh Kalra of Be First Regeneration
**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**
We don't actually earn anything from this, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.
- Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)
- Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sorts
- Subscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)
- Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon Upfront
- Join ACAN
- Join the AECB
- Join the IGBC
- Check out Her Own Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women
**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**