cove.tool has partnered with the Footprint Company as a Third-Party App for calculating embodied carbon using the GreenBook™ guide. The Footprint Company has developed a resource called the GreenBook™ that provides high-level, whole building carbon targets with visual references. This article presents what The GreenBook is, how to access it, and how to use it within cove.tool for embodied carbon optimization.

Currently, the default cove.tool embodied carbon values for the major building categories on the optimization page come from open source datasets. Users can select products from the drop-down are automatically provided a calibrated embodied carbon value. While the defaults work, the GreenBook™ values have greater global coverage and are a great resource for constructing detailed embodied carbon budgets. Learn more about the integration of embodied carbon and cove.tool, how to approach embodied carbon, and our alignment with net-zero strategies.

The GreenBook™ provides high-level, whole building carbon targets with visual references and comparative design-ready rates. It is designed with property professionals of all types in mind, with a particular focus on designers and investors.

The purpose of this resource is to accelerate your capacity to achieve the low carbon design leadership we need to adequately respond to the global call of reducing the embodied carbon intensity. The goal for the construction industry is to reduce embodied carbon 40-50% by 2050, a commitment shared by The Footprint Company and cove.tool, together with thousands of AEC professionals across the globe.

The GreenBook™ is one of the world’s best sources of design-ready embodied carbon rates for construction materials and assemblies. It uses trusted and verified materials with environmental product declarations (EPDs) and Eco-labels which are sourced globally to ensure that a wide range of materials needed is covered. The GreenBook™ 2021 version is a web-based flipbook that can be accessed through a subscription from The Footprint company.

For existing users, you can log in to your account at www.footprintcompany.com/[accountname] to access the GreenBook™ and the database. For new users, once you have purchased a subscription, the login credentials will be sent either to you or your organization via email.

Once logged in, we recommend taking a few minutes to watch the User Guide video that will take you through all of the features, functions, and tools for the GreenBook.

Use the left-hand menu to navigate your way to the material/assembly you want embodied carbon data for. As you scroll over the main element, sub-menus appear to direct you to your information. Clicking the main element will open up the main element home page. Use the search to quickly locate the product you need.

The following table maps out the compatibility of the categories under cove.tool’s Optimise tab against the material dataset accessed through The GreenBook™:

The optimization tabs in cove.tool allows users to modify each element category by adding, selecting, or removing materials and assemblies from a wide range of pre-loaded products. Once you find the product of choice, assign the correct value to your optimization product in the assigned embodied carbon column and click on the correct multiplier for the area, volume, or total.

You can also create custom products by using information from The GreenBook™ or other similar materials source list. Furthermore, you can add cost values on top of your performance values based on current market prices or data from manufacturers. Each tab is completely customizable and will give you a different but accurate result each time you hit calculate. Recalculate the optimization and see the benefit of carbon-conscious products!

Studying embodied carbon in the early design stages is a complicated process. Partnerships like this between cove.tool, and automated building performance tool, and The Footprint Company and it's GreenBook™, a globally sourced materials catalog for embodied carbon, helps to simplify the analysis for embodied carbon. Data-driven design with an integrated process can bring meaningful insights like embodied carbon into perspective for all projects.