Embodied carbon open resources list
‘Climate Emergency Design Guide: How new buildings can meet UK climate change’, published by the London Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI) in January 2020 defines embodied carbon (EC) (or embedded carbon) as:
‘The carbon emissions associated with the extraction and processing of materials and the energy and water consumptionused by the factory in producing products and constructing the building. It also includes the ‘in-use’ stage (maintenance, replacement, and emissions associated with refrigerant leakage) and ‘end of life’ stage (demolition, disassembly, and disposal of any parts of product or building) and any transportation relating to the above.’
It defines upfront embodied carbon as:
‘The carbon emissions associated with the extraction and processing of materials, the energy and water consumption used by the factory in producing products, transporting materials to site, and constructing the building.’
And whole life carbon (WLC) as including:
‘… embodied carbon, as defined above, and operational carbon. The purpose of using WLC is to move towards a building or a product that generates the lowest carbon emissions over its whole life (sometimes referred as ‘cradle-to-grave’).’
Embodied carbon may also be referred to as embodied emissions.
In the EU starting in 2028, all new buildings over 1,000 m² will be required to undergo whole-life carbon (WLC) assessments under the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). By 2030, the rule will apply to all new buildings, so it is estimated that within five to ten years, carbon performance will stand alongside energy use as a central compliance metric across Europe.
This marks a fundamental shift in performance measures for the design, construction, use and end of use scenarios for buildings, but readiness for these changes varies quite significantly across Europe: The leaders are Denmark, France, and the Netherlands who already enforce WLC limits, with Denmark tightening its thresholds further in 2025. Ireland, the UK, and Spain are moving towards this with pilot assessments though no binding caps as yet. Other countries are still working to define benchmarks ahead of the 2030 deadline.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- An in-depth look at Environmental Product Declarations EPDs.
- BPIE report urges EU to incorporate the carbon footprint of construction into policy.
- BS EN 15978-1.
- BSRIA Whitepaper on Embodied Carbon NZG 4/2023
- Carbon dioxide.
- Carbon footprint.
- Climate change act.
- Climate change science.
- Climate Emergency Design Guide.
- Cradle to grave.
- Dr. Natasha Watson; UK lead for embodied carbon at Buro Happold.
- Embedded carbon emissions.
- Embodied carbon.
- Embodied energy.
- EN 15804+A1 2012.
- Environmental product declaration EPD.
- Greenhouse gas.
- Life Cycle Carbon Emissions.
- Mandatory and optional environmental impact categories.
- Optional environmental impact categories.
- PHribbon tool calculates embodied carbon of designs.
- Product Environmental Footprint PEF.
- Product category rules PCR.
- RICS launches new global edition of its ground-breaking Whole Life Carbon Assessment standard.
- Sustainable procurement.
- Sustainability in building design and construction.
- The sustainability of construction works.
- Upfront emissions.
- Use stage embodied carbon.
- Wood, embodied carbon and operational carbon.
- Whole life carbon.
https://www.ciobacademy.org/product/embodied-carbon-in-the-built-environment/
https://www.cibse.org/policy-insight/campaigns/embodied-carbon/
https://www.safeschoolsforthefuture.com/
https://bcis.co.uk/insight/why-hasnt-part-z-been-mandated-into-building-regulations-yet/
https://www.lccg.uk/home/current-activities/lccg-market-benchmark
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