Characteristics of embodied carbon emissions for high-rise building construction: A statistical study on 403 residential buildings in China

Abstract

High-rise residential buildings are prevalent in Chinese cities and have considerable impacts on the sustainable construction industry. Although individual case studies have assessed the embodied carbon emissions, there is still a need to explore the general characteristics and driving factors. This study established a dataset containing 403 buildings and assessed the statistics and distribution of relevant embodied carbon intensities using a cradle-to-site system boundary. An average embodied carbon intensity of 424.1 kgCO2e/m2 was obtained, with 2/3 of the carbon emissions attributed to structural materials including steel, concrete, and prefabricated members. Based on contribution analyses and significance tests, the influences of driving factors encompassing building height, structural form, seismic design grade, delivery type, and building investment were examined, and carbon reduction strategies were discussed. The results indicated a potential 28.8% reduction in the embodied carbon intensity considering a cascaded strategy of substituting low-carbon materials, optimizing material use, and using local materials.