The building construction type or scope, selected from new construction or renovation.

The building’s design life cycle, selected from 20, 60, 75, or 100 years.

The project's design stage at time of embodied carbon analysis, selected from schematic design, concept design, design development, construction documentation, construction, or completed.

The project’s main structural system, selected from steel frame with infill beams, steel frame with open-web steel joists, glulam frame with CLT decking, or cast-in-place concrete. This will set the default values for the horizontal, vertical, and slab systems to correspond with the selected system.

The typical structural grid spacing or bay size for the project. The default is 9.144m (30ft) for both directions.

The project’s foundation type. The default will be set to piles for buildings greater than six stories and strip footings for buildings less than six stories.

This section includes inputs for pile foundations. At least one of the following is required and will be used to calculate the other:

If both values are provided, the total volume will be calculated directly.

This section includes inputs for strip and footing foundations. Defaults are provided but may be overridden.

If all values are provided, the total volume will be calculated directly.

This section includes inputs for pier foundations. At least one of the following is required and will be used to calculate the other:

If both values are provided, the total volume will be calculated directly.

Slab on Grade systems will be calculated by the assembly set in Assembly Builder unless overridden in the embodied carbon options page.

In order to build reasonable structural quantities estimates, cove.tool applies principles of structural engineering to create a conservative estimate for material quantities. The following systems are supported:

The typical number of infill beams per bay.

The on center (O.C.) spacing between joists for open web steel joists.

The lateral bracing system to be used, selected from Concrete Shear Wall, Mass Timber Shear Wall, Masonry Shear Wall, or Steel Braced Frame.

The total number of structural bays to be braced.

Grid dimensions may be set in x and y directions between 2m ( ft) and 30m ( ft). Grid dimensions control the shape of the structural bays used to estimate the structural quantities for the project.

The number of standard enclosed egress or fire stairwells. The dimensions of which are calculated using the floor to floor height, typical number of floors served by each stair, and the standard stair width.

Standard width of egress or fire stairs, measured from the edge of tread.

Average number of floors served by each egress or fire stairwell. Used to determine the typical height of each stairwell.

Number of monumental staircases in the project.

Total landing area for monumental stairs.

Total number of landings in monumental stairs.

The estimated replacement life of each assembly or category. This field is used with the building lifespan field to calculate the number of replacements necessary over the building life.

The grid decarbonization scenario to be applied in the lifetime operational carbon calculation. Based on Cambium data from NREL. Read more.

The electrical grid carbon factor is the amount of greenhouse gasses (kgCO2e) released for each kilowatt hour of electricity produced. Defaults are populated from current regional, national, and global data.

The year that the initial grid carbon data is sourced from.

The gas consumption carbon factor is the amount of greenhouse gasses (kgCO2e) produced for each kilowatt hour equivalent of gas consumed.

The year of project completion and occupancy.

Embodied carbon baseline. Selected from EC3 or CLF baselines (high, medium, or low). This value is used to compare the selected EPDs and carbon profiles against a fixed baseline for improvement metrics.

Typical floor live load, initially found using an area weighted average based on building type. This value may be overridden and will be used in estimating the worst-case load scenario for structural estimates.

Typical dead load conditions allowed. This value is used in estimating the worst-case load scenario for structural estimates.

Select insulated or non-insulated concrete masonry units.

Typical rebar percentages by cross sectional area for each type of cast-in-place concrete member. If no percentages are provided, calculated values will be used in preliminary estimates. Providing percentages will override the calculated estimates.

28-day concrete compressive strength in psi or MPa. This value is used in structural quantities estimates.

The yield strength of steel, Fy, in ksi or MPa. This value is used in structural quantities estimates.

Load safety factors for allowable stress design (steel) and load resistance factor design (concrete). Set to industry standards by default but may be adjusted.

The typical allowable soil bearing pressure for the site. Used as a reference when reporting to SE 2050 and in preliminary foundation calculations.