What is Embodied carbon in buildings?
Embodied carbon refers to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the production, transportation, and installation of building materials throughout a structure's life cycle, excluding operational emissions. It encompasses emissions from raw material extraction, manufacturing, assembly, maintenance, repair, and eventual disposal or recycling. By understanding and quantifying embodied carbon, architects, developers, and engineers can make more informed decisions about materials selection, construction methods, and the overall sustainability of buildings.
In simpler terms, embodied carbon is the carbon footprint of a building before it becomes operational. It plays a significant role in the total life cycle carbon footprint of a building and is crucial for achieving sustainable design.
Why is Embodied Carbon Important?
Embodied carbon has gained prominence due to its front-loaded nature, meaning these emissions are released before or during construction. This contrasts with operational carbon, which is emitted gradually over the life of a building. With the global urgency to mitigate climate change, addressing embodied carbon is critical because these emissions occur immediately and cannot be mitigated post-construction.
The World Green Building Council (WGBC) emphasizes that upfront carbon—embodied emissions generated before a building becomes operational—will constitute nearly 50% of the entire carbon footprint of new construction between now and 2050. Without proactive intervention, these emissions could consume a significant share of the global carbon budget, impeding efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Measuring Embodied Carbon
Embodied carbon is typically expressed in:
Product-level emissions: Measured in kgCO₂e (kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent) for specific materials or components.
Building-level emissions: Reported in tonnes of CO₂e (1,000 kgCO₂e) for the entire structure.
Understanding and quantifying embodied carbon enables architects, engineers, and developers to make informed decisions about:
Material selection: Opting for low-carbon or recycled materials.
Construction methods: Choosing strategies that minimize emissions, such as modular construction or adaptive reuse.
Life cycle assessments (LCA): Evaluating a building’s environmental impact across all stages of its life cycle.
How to calculate embodied carbon:
Source: EC3
Why do we need to calculate embodied carbon?
Reducing embodied carbon is critical to achieving the 2030 climate targets, as the next decade will see a surge in upfront emissions from planned infrastructure and construction. Unlike operational emissions, which can gradually decrease through energy efficiency, electrification, and grid decarbonization, embodied emissions are released all at once and cannot be "undone."
Key strategies to reduce embodied carbon include:
Optimizing design: Reducing material use without compromising structural integrity.
Material efficiency: Using low-carbon, recycled, or alternative materials.
Local sourcing: Minimizing emissions from transportation.
Circular economy practices: Incorporating reuse and recycling of building materials.
Happy Modeling!