The Concrete Centre launchs an update to its software tool Concept.

The Concrete Centre, the provider of material, design and construction guidance for concrete has launched an update to its software tool Concept. 

Already a widely used and trusted conceptual design tool for concrete frame cost and programme, the latest update, Version 4 now includes an embodied carbon ranking.

The addition of the embodied carbon comparison assists designers with assessing solutions and understanding the influence of frame choice on cost, programme and embodied carbon. The tool is completely free to use and can be easily updated with user-defined cost and carbon data.
So, how does the tool work?

The Concept Version 4 spreadsheet compares conceptual designs to Eurocode 2 for 13 forms of reinforced concrete construction, then ranks them in order of cost, programme and embodied carbon.

It is intended to be used for selecting the most appropriate scheme for an RC frame and as a “first stab” at determining member sizes. Cost, programme and carbon evaluation is dependent upon unit rates for materials, formwork and cladding.

Feedback from those that have used the software include: "Powerful tool at concept stage of a project" and "An amazing tool, it should form a part of all structural engineers' toolkits”.

The Concept design tool - Version 4 can be downloaded from www.concretecentre.com/Concept

There is also a user guide and a webinar to guide users through the software, all available to download for free.