To measure is to manage: embodied carbon in equipment and TM65
At the recent HRC 2025 show – the UK's leading trade event for hospitality and foodservice – one meeting away from the show floor was a major talking point among foodservice equipment manufacturers and consultants alike. Convened by FCSI and at standing room only capacity, the meeting addressed the topic of embodied carbon in equipment and the role of TM65 to measure it.
The meeting saw an in-depth presentation from consultant Danny Potter FCSI of Invito Design and FCSI senior associate Lauren Hunter, commercial director of ImpactLoop and chair of CIBSE TM65, with input from consultancies Hospitality Energy Saving & Sustainability, Humble Arnold, Tricon, SHW and GY5; plus equipment manufacturer, Meiko. This preceded a discussion that featured comment from a host of equipment brands, the UK's Foodservice Equipment Association (FEA) and foodservice operators.
It was clear from the outset that embodied carbon and the use of TM65 is a subject that is not going away soon, and will only gather momentum across Europe and beyond, even if there is not yet a total consensus on its application and the direction of travel.
First the background. In 2021, the UK's Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) developed a globally applicable methodology for calculating the data of embodied carbon – the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with a product or building's entire lifecycle, from raw material extraction to disposal, including manufacturing, transport, installation, and maintenance. CIBSE TM65 measures the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) released during the production, use, and disposal of building services equipment. Embodied carbon is an important factor in assessing the environmental impact of a building with regards to:
- Material extraction and processing : Energy used, emissions released, and environmental impact of obtaining raw materials.
- Manufacturing : Energy consumption, emissions, and waste generated during production.
- Transportation : Energy used to transport materials and finished products.
- Construction and installation : Energy and emissions associated with on-site activities.
- Maintenance and repair : Consumption and emissions during the product's operational life.
- End-of-life : Energy and emissions related to dismantling, recycling, or disposal.
Recent mandates from the City of London Corporation's Planning and Transportation Committee have greenlit new sustainability guidance for the built environment sector that includes a stipulation that embodied carbon benchmarking will now be tied to all planning applications. This will impact countless foodservice projects in the future and likely signify a wider rollout, particularly as larger foodservice operators are requesting the same kind of emissions data from consultants when specifying new equipment. “Some operators want to be the benchmark for the future,” said Potter.
TM65: does it have the staying power?
The industry, therefore, said Potter, “needs a framework” in order to manage measure emissions data for operators in a uniform way. "People need guidance, and they need the data to be reviewed. We need to agree on a matrix going forwards. It will make our lives a hell of a lot easier if we do. Until we do this together, we can't move forward. It needs a framework. It needs everyone to buy in," added Potter, who called for industry organizations FCSI, FEA and CEDA to agree to a unified process for consultants, equipment manufacturers and dealers, proposing that TM65 is the agreed framework to measure GHG data.
TM65, said Hunter, is the right framework for this, because "it has staying power. It's not going anywhere in the UK – it's also getting addendums in a lot of other countries. TM65 is cost-effective [it can take 6-8 weeks to get the data for a TM65, rather than an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), which can take 8-9 months]. It compares apples with apples. It has the GHG protocol behind it."
There was some degree of uncertainty from some equipment manufacturers in the room. Questions were raised on how applicable emissions data gathering is for smaller foodservice projects, the cost impact in gathering emissions data for equipment, and whether TM65 was the right route to go down at this stage. However, there was a broad consensus that this meeting and others that have taken place in the recent months in the UK are the start of an important journey and that getting ahead of mandated regulation from the European Union was wise. “If we do it right, it's a way to make the industry grow,” asserted Potter.
There is some way to go on the embodied carbon and TM65 journey, but the opportunity to coalesce and unify behind one standard, is clearly gathering momentum.