Anderson Bell + Christie (ABC) has raised concerns over the lack of a centrally regulated assessment procedure for measurements of “embodied carbon”, meaning carbon that is removed from the atmosphere and stored.

A new white paper called Balance seeks to demonstrate the scale of change required to achieve true net zero.

The two main options available for carbon sequestration in construction projects are locking carbon into physical construction components (biogenic carbon) and capturing carbon through living biomass and soils.

However, ABC says it does not consider locking carbon in physical components to be a “viable solution”.

“No organic building component can last forever, so instead, we must create the opportunity for building components to have multiple lives before they eventually release their stored carbon,” it said.

“As such, we consider that permanent carbon sequestration related to building components should be excluded from any carbon life cycle assessment.”

Carbon sequestration is “a fundamental part of achieving Balance, so landscape design and nature-based solution must become a fundamental principle for future construction projects”, the practice argues.

Tree species are among the best custodians of carbon and sequestration can be achieved using carefully selected native tree species, maintained and replaced over long time periods.

Ongoing, careful management of woodland and urban tree planting is essential, as it will allow replacement of trees before they go into significant decline. This allows a significant mass of carbon to be captured and stored in living biomass and soils.

Trees also have additional benefits that can ameliorate the impacts of climate change when used in the built environment, such as water management, solar shading and air filtration as well as community health benefits.

For all these reasons, ABC says extensive tree planting should be considered both around and within the built environment.

In the run-up to the Scottish Parliament elections in May, ABC says it will raise areas where changes to enable this approach could be made by the next government.