Spotted: Waste is a huge environmental problem. The world creates over 2 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste every year, with at least a third of that total not being handled in an environmentally friendly way. In addition, around five per cent of global CO2-equivalent emissions come from the treatment of this waste.
To tackle this, Néolithe has developed a new way of processing unrecyclable waste, with a solution that will limit waste and emissions, while creating a value-added product. Essentially, its technology speeds up the millennia-long natural fossilisation process.
The company’s patented emissions-free fossilisation process turns unrecyclable and non-hazardous waste into stones for the construction industry. Néolithe’s Fossilizator process works with ordinary industrial waste like plastics, textiles, wood, plaster, and insulation materials from deconstruction – waste that would otherwise go to landfill or be incinerated.
First, metals are removed from the materials so that they may be reused elsewhere. In the Fossilizator, the waste is then crushed into a powder and mixed with water and a low-carbon binder. Finally, the created paste is pressed to make a new mineral, called Anthropocite, which has the same technical and mechanical characteristics as traditional aggregates and can be used in road sub-bases and concrete. Anthropocite is also carbon-negative – instead of biogenic waste within the used construction materials breaking down and releasing carbon dioxide, this carbon gets captured and stored in the final aggregate products.
The construction industry is booming with innovations that help reduce waste and protect the environment. Springwise has spotted an AI platform to optimise concrete recipes, and construction blocks made from sugarcane.
Spotted: Stand.earth’s 2022 review of the fashion industry’s global carbon emissions found an alarming increase. Of the 10 major brands that were assessed, all were committed to the United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, yet only one company is on track to reduce supply chain emissions enough to keep global warming at the 1.5 degree Celsius or below mark.
Ways to reduce emissions include working with recycled materials and designing products for longevity. Materials science company GroundTruth is doing just that for its bags and accessories. The company makes carbon-neutral, vegan, recycled plastic backpacks and carryalls that have a 10-year performance guarantee. The latest product is the 38L Hybrid Duffle Pack that incorporates the company’s latest technology – hardware made from captured carbon.
The packs can be carried by hand, on the back, and across the body, with bottle holders on the front of the pack to make hydrating easy. The bags also open a full 180 degrees for swift accessibility. Notably, each duffle uses 123 plastic bottles for the exterior fabric, and the interior fabric is made from recycled fishing nets.
In tests, the captured carbon material performed 40 per cent better than virgin plastic. The waterproof coating on the material contains no volatile organic compounds, and the company works with Bluesign-certified manufacturers that meet Global Recycled Standards for safe and healthy production processes. Explorer Ed Stafford helped design and test the functionality of the pack’s features and in May 2023, GroundTruth closed a successful Kickstarter campaign and started production of the Hybrid Duffle in Jakarta.
The complexity of the fashion industry supply chain is inspiring an equally impressive number of improvements to its ecological footprint, and Springwise has spotted the growing of cotton indoors and fabrics made from banana fibres.
Mass timber’s reputation as the go-to low-carbon construction material is a problematic oversimplification that is leading to greenwashing, says carbon expert Amy Leedham in this Timber Revolution interview.
“We’re seeing a little bit of oversimplification and glorification of mass timber,” said Leedham, who is carbon lead at engineering consultancy Atelier Ten.
“The main thing that you see in the media, and one of the reasons it’s becoming such a popular building material, is that it can have a significantly lower embodied carbon than steel or concrete,” she told Dezeen. “I say ‘can’ because it’s not always the case.”
Amy Leedham (top image) is carbon expert at Atelier Ten, an engineering firm behind buildings including the mass-timber John W Olver Design Building in Massachusetts (above). Photo by Albert Vecerka/Esto
Mass timber is a term for engineered-wood products – strong structural components that typically consist of layers of wood bonded together.
It is increasing in popularity in the construction industry due to wood’s ability to sequester carbon, which means timber generally has a lower embodied carbon when compared to materials such as concrete and steel.
However, according to Leedham, this has caused mass timber to become synonymous with carbon neutrality, leading to the fallacy that all “mass-timber buildings are carbon neutral” due to the stored carbon offsetting the emissions expended by them.
“Critical factors that need to be considered”
“Mass timber construction can definitely be an important pathway toward carbon neutrality, but there are other critical factors that need to be considered,” she told Dezeen.
“If it’s not done well, mass timber buildings can have very high carbon emissions, whereas concrete buildings can have quite low carbon emissions,” she said.
“We’ve worked on concrete projects with certain concrete suppliers where they’re really focusing on reducing emissions associated with the concrete mixes and those can have quite low carbon emissions. There’s no black and white, it’s all hues of grey.”
Atelier Ten has designed the mass-timber extension of the Portland Museum of Art with Lever Architecture. Image by Darcstudio
Carbon neutrality is achieved when no additional carbon dioxide is added to the atmosphere in the creation and operation of an entity, such as a building. This can either involve eliminating emissions in the first place, negating emissions through offsetting, or a combination of both.
Assuming that using mass timber achieves this through its sequestered carbon alone can overlook several factors, such as the carbon footprint of other materials used to construct wooden buildings, including the interior finishes.
“Mass timber buildings have a lot of other material in them, especially in places where the code is challenging, especially for taller mass timber,” Leedham said.
Additionally, the carbon footprint of mass timber can also be impacted by how and from where the wood was sourced and transported, and what happens to it at the end of its useful life.
If the wood used in a building’s construction ends up in a landfill, it is likely to be incinerated or left to decompose, with its sequestered carbon released back into the atmosphere – cancelling out the carbon benefits.
“We can only control up to the point that the building is built”
“Forestry practices are super important to the overall carbon impact of mass timber, as well as end-of-life treatment,” explained Leedham.
“As designers and engineers, we can only control up to the point that the building is built. We can design in certain aspects so that it can be treated well at the end of its life in 100 years, but we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The overlooking of these “critical factors” recently prompted Leedham to write a series of myth-busting essays on engineered wood, co-authored and published with US studio Lever Architecture.
The essays shine a light on the main misconceptions about mass timber that are circulating in the industry, in an effort to expose the truth behind them and promote the responsible use of the material in architecture.
“Mass timber is super important to the future of low-carbon construction,” she said.
“But it’s also really important that it’s done right. If it’s done incorrectly, then it’s just another form of greenwashing.”
Alongside the misunderstandings about mass timber and carbon neutrality, the essays also debunk beliefs that “all wood is good wood”, that it is always more sustainable than concrete, and that mass-timber buildings actually absorb carbon.
Co-author Jonathan Heppme, who is a principal at Lever Architecture, said the authors have heard these myths in discussions about their own projects, but also at industry events.
“These myths emerge very frequently”
“Variations on these myths emerge very frequently where architectural and engineering professionals meet to discuss construction and procurement with project owners, builders, manufacturers and trade representatives,” Heppme told Dezeen.
“These myths surface at symposiums, trade shows, conferences, lectures, or in conference rooms where decisions around the incorporation and advancement of mass-timber systems are being discussed,” he continued.
Both he and Leedham hope their publication will contribute to “more nuanced narratives from the mass timber industry” and advocate “healthy innovation” in this space.
In the essays, the authors outline how the industry can combat these myths – such as by encouraging architects to make conscientious sourcing decisions, which can, in turn, incentivise the timber industry to manage forests sustainably, and by improving understanding of carbon neutrality and how it can be achieved.
Leedham believes timber, steel and concrete all have roles in the future of architecture. Photo is of John W Olver Design Building in Massachusetts by Albert Vecerka/Esto
Leedham told Dezeen that these solutions could also all be supported by the roll-out of worldwide carbon taxes for construction projects, which would require payments for the greenhouse gas emissions emitted by building components.
Not only would this lead to the more responsible use of mass timber, she said, but it would also encourage more sustainable practices when it comes to using materials such as concrete and steel.
“Carbon taxes would definitely speed up the adoption of any type of more sustainable construction practice,” said Leedham.
“If you had to pay for all the carbon emissions before you got your building permit, I think that would encourage the use of mass timber, it would encourage sustainable forestry practices, and it would actually encourage both the concrete and steel industry to reduce their emissions.”
Mass timber will not “dominate the industry”
This last point is particularly important as she believes that concrete and steel will remain vital materials in the future of architecture.
“The reality is that we need everything. Mass timber is one of a kit of parts,” said Leedham.
“I don’t think mass timber is going to ever dominate the industry, just because of the sheer volume of construction that’s happening, and I don’t think it wants to.”
“We absolutely need steel and concrete industries to also focus on reducing their emissions because we’re going to need all three primary structural materials,” she added.
This echoes the views of construction material expert Benjamin Kromoser, who told Dezeen in an interview that mass timber will not become a mainstream building material because it uses too much wood
“Wood is a limited resource,” he said. “It always has to be a balance between what we take from the forest to use for building construction and how much grows again.”
Timber Revolution This article is part of Dezeen’s Timber Revolution series, which explores the potential of mass timber and asks whether going back to wood as our primary construction material can lead the world to a more sustainable future.
Spotted: Carbon fibre composites are widely used substances, appearing in aircraft and spacecraft parts, wind turbine blades, bicycle frames, and many other components that need to be strong but light. However, most carbon fibres are difficult to recycle and repurpose. This is particularly problematic in the wind turbine industry. Given that, from 2030 onwards, around 5,700 wind turbines will be dismantled each year in Europe alone, a recycling solution needs to be found.
Fairmat has devised a way to recycle all types of carbon fibre composites. Its process is largely automated and uses robotics and machine learning to deliver precision and efficiency. The proprietary process breaks waste up into small pieces that keep the original resin and carbon fibre together. Fairmat then creates compounds from the waste and coats them with a small amount of additional resin to form a new matrix. The resulting compound is then moulded according to customer needs and hardened.
Ben Saada, Fairmat CEO, explains: “Recycling advanced materials like carbon fibre composites is one of the strongest actions we can take to accelerate the decarbonisation of the manufacturing sector.”
Although the process is still under development, Fairmat has already secured more than 35 per cent of European carbon fibre scrap supply and opened its first factory. The company has also secured €34 million in a series A funding round and hopes to eventually expand into the US, Spain, and Germany.
The growing mountain of used wind turbine blades sitting in landfills is encouraging a number of innovations targeting this waste. Some of those recently spotted by Springwise include blades made from a composite material that can be more easily recycled and reused, a bladeless turbine, and a bioplastic blade material that can be turned into gummy bears.
Spotted: In order to mitigate the impacts of climate change, it is likely that we will need to scale up direct air capture (DAC) technology and carbon storage. In DAC, air is run through filters and sorbents to separate out the CO2. The filters are then heated to release the CO2, which is either stored underground or used in products such as building materials and fuels. As you might expect, this process often requires significant energy and incurs expense.
Now, new research from a team at Lehigh University, has found a way to make the DAC process more efficient. Most current DAC filtering processes use amine-based sorbents (materials derived from ammonia, which contains nitrogen). In this study, the researchers added copper to the amines, which allowed the sorbent to filter out three times as much CO2 as existing products – lowering costs and improving efficiency.
On top of the improved efficiency, the addition of copper meant that when the material came into contact with seawater, it converted the captured CO2 into a harmless alkaline material almost identical to baking soda. This opens up the possibility of storing captured CO2 in the ocean, which could allow DAC plants to be built in a much wider range of locations.
The researchers point out that there is still a long way to go before this technology is sustainable. For one thing, ammonia is derived from fossil fuels. Another concern is that no one knows what the effect would be of large volumes of baking soda entering the oceans each year. But despite these notes of caution, the research is an exciting development as countries explore the practicalities of deploying DAC technology.
There are currently just a handful of DAC facilities around the world, but the technology has an important role to play in the reduction of atmospheric CO2. Springwise has also spotted a method for turning atmospheric carbon into solid carbon, and a process for permanently storing CO2 in rocks deep underground.
Spotted: Almost all industrial facilities emit CO2, and while there are options for capturing the carbon emitted by large plants, there are few options for small- and medium-sized facilities. Now, Danish startup Algiecel has developed a modular photobioreactor (PBR) that can capture CO2 and transform it into algae-based derivative products.
Algiecel’s PBR’s are highly compact and fit into standard 40-foot shipping containers. The PBRs capture CO2 from industrial point emissions using algae, with energy for photosynthesis coming from LED lighting, and the only waste streams being oxygen and process heat – which can be reused. The containers can also be easily scaled for use by almost any facility.
The microalgae grown in the PBR are rich in protein, omega-3, vitamins, and carotenoids and can be split into biomass and bio-oil. This makes it especially useful in products such as aquaculture feed and as a human food supplement. So, not only do the bioreactors prevent CO2 from reaching the atmosphere – they are also a source of new products.
Algiecel adds: “We can thus achieve constantly efficient production with increasing scale compared with competing solutions. The container-based plug and play structure also means a more flexible capex solution for clients.”
In 2022, Algiecel successfully operated a pilot plant and has recently raised kr.10 million (about €1.3 million) in funding to further optimise the technology and create its first full-scale demonstration unit.
Springwise has spotted other flexible carbon capture and storage solutions, such as a novel way to remove carbon from the air and reuse it, and a process that can retrofit HVAC units to remove CO2.
Spotted: Wanting to help make the long-standing agricultural practice of remineralising soil with rock powder even more effective, a team of researchers formed InPlanet. Focused exclusively on accelerating the natural carbon removal that occurs when carbon dioxide reacts with silicate rocks and water, the process cleans the air and improves crop outputs.
Working with mines across Brazil, the company is scaling a sustainable farming practice that has been practiced in the country for generations. The high temperatures and consistent rainfall of the tropics significantly affect the quality of farmed soil. But, spreading ground rock across the fields improves soil biodiversity, and particularly its mineral content, as many commercial fertilisers kill off helpful growth as well as weeds.
Once the crushed rock is spread, the CO2 will remain inground for thousands of years, whether in the field itself or as sediment in the oceans if it runs off. Farmers can save money they would otherwise spend on chemical fertilisers, and as well as enriching the soil, the rock captures high volumes of CO2 that would otherwise remain in the atmosphere.
The country has set itself a goal of certifying up to 1,000 mines by 2050 as suppliers of the rock for agricultural use. InPlanet is using its research and development (R&D) capabilities to help farmers economically justify the switch from pesticides and other synthetics to enhanced rock weathering (ERW) field management. Having recently closed an oversubscribed €1.2 million pre-seed round of funding, the company is planning to expand its team and monitoring capacity.
From growing minerals underground that lock away captured CO2 to using sequestered carbon for industrial processes, Springwise has spotted a range of ways that captured carbon dioxide is being used.
The housing crisis in California is leaving thousands unsheltered and millions more with high rent burdens, threatening low-income communities, who are disproportionately people of color. Meanwhile, the climate crisis is causing wildfires, dangerous air quality, and widespread power shut-offs. A recent study funded by the California Public Utilities Commission highlights how Passive House (PH) design principles should be utilized in new construction to create zero carbon multifamily housing and contribute to more comfortable, healthy, and safe buildings for residents.
The Advancing Options for Decarbonization in Multifamily Buildings study developed by BluePoint Planning will inform the state’s zero-carbon program for new multifamily construction, and is designed to shape future California Energy codes (Title 24 part 6). The intention is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from multifamily buildings, promote occupant safety and comfort, and provide greater resilience in the face of climate change and extreme weather.
The study promotes deep energy efficiency practices and encourages market actors to go beyond code, by integrating ultra-efficient PH approaches in the design and construction of new zero carbon multifamily housing. Passive House design elements emphasize airtight construction, reduced thermal bridging, and passive daylighting, heating, and cooling as much as possible.
Why Passive House?
Building on stakeholders’ and technical advisors’ input, the study highlights that PH in multifamily buildings is cost-effective and is one of the best building sectors to focus on. PH buildings can use up to 80% less energy than existing standard construction, and 20% less energy than current California energy code. The PH model has been around for more than 40 years and can be applied to all building types—including multifamily residential and mixed-use commercial and multifamily. The technique has become popular throughout Europe, while gaining ground in the United States as well, with the square footage of PH buildings more than doubling every 2 years over the past decade. Today, there are more than 100 multifamily Passive House buildings in the US, equaling more than 2.7 million square feet; though there are few in California.
PH construction relies on a well-insulated building envelope that minimizes air leaks and thermal bridging, to create an ultra–energy-efficient building. Other elements such as double- and triple-paned, properly installed windows are also needed to achieve proper insulation. The resulting energy efficiency and reduction in demand is critical to meet California’s climate goals, to support the electrical grid, and to lower costs to ratepayers.
Building systems and beyond
Zero carbon multifamily buildings must be all-electric, utilizing efficient heat pump HVAC and heat pump water heaters. Note that the elimination of natural gas infrastructure helps reduce construction costs. Did you know that that plug loads consume 30% to 44% of whole building energy for multifamily buildings (depending on climate zone), because each unit has less space to be heated and cooled but still uses roughly the same number of appliances? Thus, highly efficient appliances will have high impact in reducing energy consumption. Consider induction cooktops, heat pump clothes dryers, and ENERGY STAR rated or other third-party certified microwaves, dishwashers, clothes washers, and refrigerators. In addition, the study requires that operation and management of multifamily buildings actively reduce emissions associated with energy use.
The study expands the discussion beyond the building’s systems and considers siting, connection to other buildings, and potential for scaled infrastructure. Proper site design, orientation to the sun, and site shading all affect the need for heating and cooling. When done correctly, these elements work in tandem with airtight insulation to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures with minimal active heating and cooling.
Solar battery storage for resilience
Solar and storage are also critical elements to creating low carbon, resilient buildings. Once a multifamily building approaches ultra-low energy use intensity (EUI) targets, solar and storage must be integrated to help satisfy the building’s daily energy demands and to support basic electricity needs during a power outage. For multifamily properties, it’s essential to consider rooftop configurations and availability, and to enable siting solar over parking areas or other parts of the site. The decarbonization study also covers integration of electric charging stations and vehicle-to-grid technologies that can help to raise the overall benefits of a zero carbon building and its resilience.
Passive House design is known best as helping to create high-performing buildings and reducing energy use. However, key elements like insulation, energy efficient appliances, and solar with battery storage, can have invaluable resilience benefits in a world where climate change impacts are becoming more extreme and life-threatening.
Resilience and equity in zero carbon multifamily housing
The study considers equity as an essential principle, and advocates that PH buildings provide a durable sanctuary for residents in the face of disaster, extreme weather, or smoke from wildfires. (Durable sanctuary refers to a home or building that ensures a safe and healthy living space for its occupants both every day and during emergencies, including power outages for multiple days.) This is particularly important for disadvantaged populations who are more likely to have increased vulnerability to climate threats and are more likely to experience health complications from such an event.
One study showed that PH buildings can maintain a sufficient indoor temperature in the case of a power shut off in the extreme cold for over 6 days, compared to traditionally designed buildings, which only stay comfortable for about 1 day. The potential for Passive House as a resilience tool and mechanism to promote safety and potentially life-saving services in the face of disaster is ready to be realized.
The Advancing Options for Decarbonization in Multifamily Buildings study can be considered a reference point for where the housing industry in California is headed. As such, it can act as a tool for design and construction professionals in California to help align their industries towards Passive House standards and more climate-friendly and resilient multifamily buildings. This includes promoting and expanding relevant training, aligning energy modeling tools, and advocating for resilience standards and certifications in their projects.
Bianca Hutner has a background in climate policy advocacy and local government climate planning. At BluePoint Planning, she helps California local jurisdictions reduce emissions and promote resilience through climate planning efforts and assists in regional and statewide efforts to curb climate change and promote an energy-resilient future. Hutner is a co-author of the Multifamily Zero Carbon Action Plan for the California Public Utilities Commission.
The Department of Energy released the residential segment of theU.S. Building Stock Characterization Study to give decisionmakers a science-based tool to identify technologies and solutions to drive the US housing stock toward zero carbon operation. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, with input from the Advanced Building Construction Collaborative led by the Rocky Mountain Institute, developed the benchmark survey and accompanying dashboard. Typology studies like this have valued precedents in other countries, particularly in Europe, but this is the first-ever, national-level study of the US housing stock.
Updated in 2022 to include commercial buildings, the analysis segmented the US housing stock into 165 subgroups based on climate zone, wall structure, housing type, and year of construction. For each segment, thermal energy use (i.e., energy used for HVAC and water heating) was analyzed by end-use and segment. This gives policymakers and business owners insight to prioritize specific regions, housing segments, and target technologies for efficiency and electrification upgrades.
Primary high-level takeaways
Single-family detached homes
Not surprisingly, most residential thermal energy use is in single-family detached homes, which constitute the majority of residential buildings in the US. Single-family detached homes also have the highest thermal energy end-use per square foot (energy intensity); plus the largest square footage per home. This one-two punch means that any zero-carbon strategy must address this sector and its complex ownership structures, small individual building sizes, and diverse architectures.
Air leakage
Air leakage (infiltration) is the primary driver for heating loads in every climate region studied. For example, in multifamily buildings in cold climates, air leakage is nearly double all other envelope heat transfer component loads combined. This prioritizes insulation and other air-sealing strategies—especially those that limit disruptions for occupants during renovations. More research is needed on panelized walls, drill-and-fill insulation, and window retrofits to prove their effectiveness. Reducing air leakage, combined with mechanical ventilation, could also provide additional, non-monetary benefits for occupants, such as better thermal comfort, reduced moisture, and improved indoor air quality.
Mobile Homes
Mobile homes are extremely energy-intensive. Despite comprising a relatively small share of total housing units in most climate regions (around 4% to 9%), mobile homes typically have much larger thermal energy consumption per square foot than other building types. This inordinate energy intensity increases in older mobile homes in cold or mixed climate regions, where oil and gas heating are common; but is also problematic in hotter climates, where electric heating and cooling dominate.
Retrofitting mobile homes will likely offer an array of benefits for occupants, starting with reduced energy bills. Often, this might entail replacing the unit completely, although there could be significant barriers, such as local codes, taxes and ownership structures, as well as potential equity implications of displacing occupants.
Electrification
Fossil fuel–based space and water heating must be replaced to achieve decarbonization. These are the largest contributors to energy intensity and total loads. Again, electrification is needed across the US, in colder climates where oil and gas space and water heating are most common, and warmer regions with less reliance on fossil fuels. By benchmarking the different segments, the study informs decision-makers on where existing technologies are cost-effective, and where additional incentives or other cost reductions might be needed. (The DSIRE database is a great place to easily search and find a wide variety of state and federal financial incentives for sustainable new construction and renovations.) Some housing segments may also require envelope retrofits, to make electric heating pencil out, such as in the cold Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
Solutions work across segments
The good news is that retrofit and building solutions are largely transferable among different residential segments. For example, energy efficiency packages developed for single-family detached, midcentury wood frame construction (which is the single-family segment with the highest thermal energy use in three of the five climate regions) will likely be applicable to other segments, such as other wood frame single-family detached vintages, as well as low-rise, wood frame multifamily buildings. Similarly, solutions developed for Marine-climate multifamily buildings, where water heating is the largest energy end use, could potentially apply broadly, as water heating retrofits aren’t impacted by the existing envelope.
Next steps to zero carbon
Local policymakers and building professionals should check out the free online dashboard that accompanies this report. Deep dive to explore building characteristics by specific state or county, examine nonthermal energy use, explore detailed HVAC configurations, and more. The online dashboard can serve as a baseline for the development of local efficiency and decarbonization strategies; and inform businesses on local opportunities. The commercial building recommendations and dashboard are also worth exploring.
In addition, this comprehensive, building characterization study will directly support technology and development goals nationwide, and further the work of the Advanced Building Construction Initiative as they explore avenues toward better performance and zero carbon. Beyond the major takeaways above, the ABC Analysis Working Group will identify additional home segments and strategies to prioritize for high decarbonization impact. And then model individual and packaged upgrades appropriate for particular segments.
Operational carbon is usually what we think of when energy costs are discussed. That is, carbon emissions that come from the energy used to power our homes, cars, etc. over their lifetime. Your home’s energy efficiency comes into play here. Generally, operational carbon emissions can be modeled and predicted, so you can compare one appliance or building product against another. Often, a label will show how much energy a certain appliance is likely to draw over a lifetime of operation, or how much a well insulated house will reduce your energy needs annually. But embodied carbon takes this modeling to a whole ’nother level.
Embodied carbon is the carbon footprint of a product, process, or service starting with the extraction of raw materials through the manufacturing process to market (cradle to gate) and then beyond to delivery and installation (cradle to site). Operational carbon is often considered separately, but adding the carbon embodied in a product’s end-of-life disposal (cradle to grave) or reuse or recycling (cradle-to-cradle) gives a complete lifecycle analysis. In other words, embodied carbon represents the total amount of greenhouse gases (including CO2) emitted during extraction, transportation, manufacture, delivery and deployment, and then end-of-life. Looking at both the embodied carbon and the operational carbon give you the true “carbon cost” of your product or project.
Let’s picture a new countertop for your kitchen. The embodied carbon of that countertop that you will enjoy in your home comprises the energy that goes into mining the stone, transporting the raw material from the mine to a facility for processing, its processing and preparation (cutting, strengthening, and polishing), transporting to a wholesaler, and then to your home where we include the energy emissions of cutting to size and setting it up in your kitchen. And finally its end-of-life, which hopefully includes reuse or recycling wherever possible.
Embodied carbon hides in your home
For homes, the biggest sources of embodied carbon are typically in materials. Many common materials used in construction, such as concrete, stone, steel, and lumber, tend to be high in embodied carbon either due to energy-intensive extraction or manufacturing processes. Even products made from rapidly renewable materials, or by a manufacturer that uses renewable energy, may waste a lot of water, or raw or finished materials. Or the product must travel overseas, or lasts only a short time before it heads for the landfill and must be replaced.
An exception to looking for the lowest carbon equation would be if the building materials are used for carbon sequestration. For instance, natural renewable materials such as wood from sustainable forests, or wool, or bamboo will hold carbon safely within the walls and furnishings of your home, while the natural source is replenished and continues to grow and pull more carbon from the atmosphere.
To reduce the embodied carbon in your home, as the saying goes, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. The most accurate analysis of the embodied carbon in extraction, transportation, and manufacturing is going to come from the product manufacturer. Eco-conscious companies often use environmental product declarations (EPDs) and post the data on their websites. These look beyond carbon and account for multiple environmental impacts. Further, they provide a lifecycle assessment (LCA), and include both embodied carbon through end-of-life and operational carbon.
Experts can help
Many software tools exist to help conduct LCAs. One of the best free tools out there is the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3). This tool can technically be used by anyone, but it is most efficient if used between your architectural, engineering, and construction professionals along with a trained sustainability professional or firm. Increasingly, the emphasis shifts to embodied carbon as building codes call for increased energy efficiency, and more homes and utility grids are powered by renewable energy—thus significantly lowering the carbon footprint of operational carbon emissions.
By looking at these issues, weighing pros and cons, we can help reduce the embodied carbon and thereby the total lifecycle carbon in our homes. Particularly in new construction and all-electric homes, just a few adjustments in key areas—insulation, cladding, and concrete—can make strides toward meeting our collective climate change commitments and averting the worst of the climate change catastrophes to come.
The Author: Sustainability Consultant Arnaldo Perez-Negron is an environmentalist and social entrepreneur based in the Tampa Bay area.
