Abstract
Buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of global CO2 emissions – one quarter of these being Embodied Carbon, which is front loaded to the construction period (months) in comparison to operational carbon emissions which usually occur over decades. Emerging concern about this issue is noted to have driven recent guidance publications and a few countries are preparing legislation to address the issue. The opportunities with most impact lie at the planning and design stage and require a committed client to ensure that early decisions are carried through to completion. This paper analyses the whole life carbon emissions for four façade options in a case study. Three further case studies are analysed for the impact of material choice on embodied and operational carbon emissions. All case studies show potential carbon savings depending on material choice. Even with minor carbon savings for one unit, there is potential for increased saving across multiple units (e.g. hotels and dwellings). Finally, opportunities to utilize waste products are considered, not only reducing carbon emissions, but meeting the Circular Economy principle of “keep products and materials in use”.
Highlights
There was an eight-fold increase in global material use in the 1900s [1]
This paper focusses on the energy consumption / carbon emissions associated with the built environment whole life cycle which is associated with materials
The aim of this paper is to show examples where design analysis can lead to reduction of carbon emissions
Summary
There was an eight-fold increase in global material use in the 1900s [1]. With buildings consuming approximately 40-50% of raw materials globally [2, 3]. Data for 2017 shows that 89 Gtonnes of construction materials were used, which is anticipated to increase to 167 Gtonnes by 2060 [4]. The sourcing, processing, use and disposal of materials has other environmental impacts including pollution of air, water and land [1] which affect all the species on the planet including humankind. In Europe, the building industry is responsible for 35% of all solid waste [5]. This paper focusses on the energy consumption / carbon emissions associated with the built environment whole life cycle which is associated with materials
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