Environmental cost estimates: the key to sustainable design

Performing environmental cost estimates earlier, for example as early as the initiative and design phase, has a significant impact on the Netherlands' sustainability ambitions. By gaining insight into carbon and nitrogen emissions at an early stage, projects can be designed with more sustainable choices right from the start. Speaking is Michiel Banus, Circle Lead CIVIEL/CALC at software company Bakker&Spees. With this innovative calculation tool you can quickly make an environmental cost estimate, but the software offers much wider application possibilities for standardization and efficiency in calculations.

More than 1,100 organizations in the construction and energy sectors work with Bakker&Spees' CALC, CIVIEL and VISI modules on a daily basis. "CALC is a relatively new solution that emerged from CIVIEL two years ago," says Michiel. "Unlike CIVIEL, CALC is not tied to the RAW system, but is completely freely configurable. We noticed that organizations have a need to further professionalize their calculations in addition to their regular RAW calculations. They now rely on error-prone Excel files that are copied from colleague to colleague and often work with outdated data." CALC makes it easy to add fields or modify standard calculation models and templates. "A product specialist takes care of the configuration, so it's not a customization process but it does function fully customized."

Quick scan

If you really want to change something in the world and make an impact on sustainability, you have to start doing so in the design phase, Michiel believes. "This is because the current application of MKI calculations in the procurement phase comes too late to make a substantial impact, because by then you have already made the design decision as to which products and execution methods you are going to work with. So you have to bring it forward even before a contract is in place. With CALC, we offer the opportunity to make a more informed decision in the preliminary stage, with maximum gains for both the environment and costs. And we do not do this using the Environmental Cost Indicator (EQI), but with a quick scan on CO2 emissions, which is after all the most important component of the EQI. In the calculation model, we add a number of columns, such as the historical and current CO2 value per element. On that basis, you can calculate a number of variants at an early stage and make perfectly clear what the additional costs are of a more sustainable choice."

Standardized

So with CALC, you quickly create an effective budget estimate from a sustainability perspective, without having to deal with a separate MKI calculation. "The result is a cost calculation with CO2 calculations in it and a pass-through on the total CO2 value. In CALC there are a number of templates from traditional GWW calculations and templates that respond as CIVIEL, as well as templates for SSK estimates and VO/DO estimates. So it is very familiar to many parties. Also, a big advantage is that everyone in the organization starts working with the same assumptions and source data, all on a predefined template. So you can't forget things. Moreover, you have a record of your estimate that is still understandable and accessible to everyone five years later. We ensure that information is captured in a standardized way, and CALC forces you to work in a standardized way. Unlike a budget estimate in Excel, a program still widely used today for these types of estimates, you can't break formulas or erase sheets."

Artificial Intelligence 

CALC, incidentally, has a much wider range of applications and is also suitable, for example, for complex projects, dashboards and modeling different scenarios. The software is also extremely user-friendly. "If you have experience with calculation in GWW, you can start using it tomorrow, so to speak. We made the software look very simple, despite the fact that you can also perform very complex calculations with it." And that is important towards the future, according to Michiel. "For 20 years we have been calculating in the GWW in virtually the same way, but we are on the eve of a revolutionary change. With the use of Artificial Intelligence, estimates will have a much stronger predictive capability. We are really going to experience the benefits of this in the coming years," Michiel expects. He adds that he cannot reveal anything concrete yet about what this means for Bakker&Spees' software solutions. To be continued, no doubt."

Questions? The Bakker&Spees team will be on hand at booth 6.402 at InfraTech 2025. 

Michiel Banus, Circle Lead CIVIEL/CALC at Bakker&Spees

Michiel has more than 20 years of experience in the civil engineering and energy sectors. He knows the challenges and dynamics of these markets inside out and has a keen eye for innovative solutions. As the creator of CALC, he has a clear vision of the future of estimating, with sustainability, standardization and efficiency at its core.