Embodied carbon
Carbon emissions arising from the built environment are attributable not only to the use of buildings (operational emissions) but also to their construction (embodied emissions).
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Operational emissions result from energy consumption from the day-to-day running of a property, while embodied emissions are associated with producing, procuring and installing the materials and components that make up a structure. To fully understand a building’s total carbon impact, it is necessary to assess both the operational and embodied emissions over the whole life of the asset, known as the whole life approach.
(Image by the Irish Green Build Council www.igbc.ie) |
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A whole life carbon approach identifies the overall best combined opportunities for reducing lifetime emissions, and also helps to avoid any unintended consequences of focusing on operational emissions alone, e.g. the embodied carbon burden of changing single glazing to double, or triple, can be greater than the operational benefit resulting from the additional panes. Therefore, whole life carbon needs to be effectively integrated into the sustainability agenda to achieve a lower carbon future.
Taking a whole life carbon approach to any construction or retrofit project can also benefit the local economy and reduce transport costs; for example by sourcing local, sustainable products such as timber or lime. By replacing steel and concrete with sustainable materials, several tonnes of carbon can be saved per project, in addition to reducing pollution caused by the production of man-made materials. Special care is needed, particularly when works are being undertaken to retrofit homes in order to reduce energy consumption, as the carbon payback period for a high embodied carbon retrofit may be several decades, at which point further work may be required and the overall carbon savings are never materialised.
Taking a whole life carbon approach to any construction or retrofit project can also benefit the local economy and reduce transport costs; for example by sourcing local, sustainable products such as timber or lime. By replacing steel and concrete with sustainable materials, several tonnes of carbon can be saved per project, in addition to reducing pollution caused by the production of man-made materials. Special care is needed, particularly when works are being undertaken to retrofit homes in order to reduce energy consumption, as the carbon payback period for a high embodied carbon retrofit may be several decades, at which point further work may be required and the overall carbon savings are never materialised.
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