Embodied Carbon

by Marcy Marro | September 1, 2022 12:00 am

Within the architecture and construction communities, there are several buzzwords that have popped up over the years. For instance, sustainability, green building, resilience and net zero are terms that come into the mainstream consciousness and start to appear everywhere from blog posts and magazine articles to conference educational sessions to webinars and everywhere in between. One of the current buzzwords is embodied carbon.

According to the 2021 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction[1], buildings and construction account for at least 31% of energy-related CO2 emissions globally. Of those, some are embodied carbon while the rest are caused by energy used to operate buildings. Embodied carbon emissions are generated by the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of construction materials used in buildings, roads and other infrastructure.

In this month’s Special Feature[2], Senior Editor Mark Robins discusses metal building products and embodied carbon, and its relation to global warming. As global climate change presents a threat to human life, health and well-being, Alan Scott, FAIA, FAIA, LEED Fellow, LEED AP BD+C, O+M, WELL AP, CEM, director of sustainability with Intertek Building Science Solutions, Portland, Ore., notes that architects’ design and specification decisions have a significant impact on global environmental issues. Amy Hattan, corporate responsibility officer, Thornton Tomasetti, Portland, Maine, notes the carbon footprint of metal building products is greatly influenced by the amount of recycled content and the energy consumed during production, which has a significant impact on embodied carbon.

On the same note, the U.S. Green Building Council[3] recently posted an article on its website called “Embodied carbon and its future within climate policy.”[4] In it, Michelle Drandell, state and local advocacy intern, shares how environmental product declarations (EPDs) assess a material’s environmental impact over the course of its lifetime through life cycle assessments. This is important because global building stock is expected to double within the next 40 years according to Architecture 2030[5], which also notes embodied carbon is expected to account for 74% of the emissions from new construction over the next decade. Unless a concerted effort is made to reduce the carbon footprint of building construction, greenhouse gas emissions and energy use will continue to rise.

As embodied carbon continues to be discussed within the architecture and construction industries, it’s important to start making the changes required for long-term success.

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/blog/embodied-carbon/

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