Preoptima funded by DESNZ and Defra to demonstrate the impact of the PACER platform

Preoptima has been awarded funding through the Innovate UK Contracts for Innovation competition, with the DESNZ and Defra as funders, to deliver CLEAR – a project that will validate the real-world impact of the PACER platform. Through testing within council environments, CLEAR will examine how PACER supports more resource-efficient design choices, streamlines WLCA reviews, and generates insights to strengthen future circular economy and low-carbon policies.

We are delighted to share that Preoptima has been awarded funding through the Contracts for Innovation: Resource Efficient Construction Impacts competition, funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), and delivered in collaboration with Innovate UK.

The award will support CLEAR (Carbon Lifecycle Evaluation for Authority Reviews), a new R&D project focused on validating the real-world impact of Preoptima's PACER (Planning Application Carbon Evaluation and Reduction), a digital tool to help Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) streamline the review of Whole life carbon assessments (WLCAs) as part of planning applications.

Preoptima extends a heartfelt thank you to DESNZ, Defra and Innovate UK for their support and investment in advancing resource-efficient solutions.

Introducing CLEAR: Carbon Lifecycle Evaluation for Authority Reviews

The CLEAR project will demonstrate and validate how PACER can support more resource-efficient and low-carbon decision-making in the planning system.

PACER has been developed to help LPAs streamline WLCA reviews, uphold policy requirements, and guide applicants toward lower-carbon and lower-material-impact design solutions. CLEAR will build on this by exploring how the platform can:

• Support more consistent, structured WLCA reviews

• Identify and signal opportunities to reduce material use and embodied carbon

• Provide clear, early feedback to applicants on resource-efficient design choices

• Reduce the time and specialist knowledge needed to assess complex submissions

• Generate valuable data to inform future policy and circular economy strategies

As part of CLEAR, PACER will be validated within live LPA planning environments, enabling us to examine its performance in real workflows and produce an evidence-based Impact Validation Report for local government.

This validation will focus on how digital WLCA review tools can:

• Support the resource efficiency measures in the Unlocking Resource Efficiency Report 

• Highlight circularity and resource-efficiency opportunities from the earliest design and planning stages

• Improve accuracy and consistency in sustainability assessments

• Reduce the burden on planning teams 

• Support the sector’s transition to more sustainable, low-waste construction practices

Why This Work Matters

Achieving the UK’s Net Zero goals – and delivering the homes and infrastructure the country needs – will place increasing pressure on industries, supply chains, developer ecosystems, and local authorities. The government has identified the transition to a circular, resource-efficient built environment as both a challenge and an opportunity.

Progress to date has improved the recoverability of materials, but too often, high-value products are downcycled or discarded. The shift we need now is upstream: designing out waste, encouraging reuse and repurposing, integrating recycled and low-carbon materials, and supporting practices that extend building life.

CLEAR directly responds to this challenge by building evidence for how digital planning tools can:

• Reduce avoidable waste

• Improve the resource efficiency of new developments

• Encourage reuse and retention schemes

• Strengthen carbon governance in the planning system

• Support policy development and future Circular Economy Strategy measures

By working closely with planning authorities, CLEAR will bring forward practical insights and real-world data to support a more circular construction economy.

About the Contracts for Innovation Competition

The Contracts for Innovation programme aims to build on the DESNZ Unlocking Resource Efficiency research by supporting organisations to deliver an impact validation report for a resource efficiency solution.

The scheme offers fully funded opportunities for organisations to develop, demonstrate, and validate innovative solutions that have a clear route to market.

DESNZ and Defra, working with Innovate UK, are set to invest up to £3 million across three strands:

• Resource Efficient Construction Impacts

• Resource Efficient Chemicals Impacts

• Resource Efficient Automotive Impacts

The CLEAR project sits within the Resource Efficient Construction Impacts strand, which addresses the footprint of a sector responsible for:

• ~10% of the UK’s carbon footprint

• 62% of the UK’s total waste

• 32% of waste to landfill

There is significant potential to reduce emissions across the construction value chain. This could be through the adoption of resource-efficient production methods, material substitution for lower-carbon alternatives, use of recycled, reused and repurposed materials and components, and building or infrastructure lifetime extension. 

The government intends to support the sector in this transition through the forthcoming Circular Economy Strategy, and this competition specifically targets some of the innovation challenges identified by stakeholders and the government.

Follow Our Journey

We look forward to sharing progress updates as CLEAR advances and the PACER platform continues to evolve.

To stay up to date, follow us on LinkedIn — and if you’d like to discuss the project or learn more about Preoptima’s work, contact us at info@preoptima.com.