An approach for measuring and analyzing embodied carbon in the construction industry chain based on emergy accounting

Abstract

This study proposes a comprehensive approach to analyze the embodied carbon in China’s construction industry by integrating carbon emission factors and an input–output model. The analysis covers the whole construction industry chain, including both direct and indirect carbon emissions. Moreover, this study introduces an emergy index system that incorporates the ternary diagram of materials science for environmental assessments, assessing resource allocation, development effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability. The research measures the embodied carbon emissions for seven regions in China’s construction industry, and compares the results from the perspective of the whole industry chain. The study reveals that indirect carbon emissions contribute significantly to the embodied carbon emissions in China’s construction industry, and the central region exhibits the highest environmental loading rate among all regions. Additionally, the northern region shows the highest emergy yield rate, whereas the eastern and northeastern regions exhibit better sustainability in the development of the construction industry.