The Concept of Embodied Carbon
A Life-Cycle Approach

Technology Racing Ahead

Machines have replaced manual labor

200 years of carbon emissions

CO2 – Where does it come from anyway?

Lifecycle Embodied Carbon
Embodied
Carbon

Embodied vs. Operational
• Embodied Carbon
– Life Cycle Assessment
– Construction Waste Management
– End of Life Assessment
– Materials Reuse
– Recycled Content
– Local Content
• Operational Carbon
– Transportation to/from site
– Energy Performance
– Energy Metering
– Commissioning
– Renewable Energy, Green Power and Carbon Offsets

Life cycle carbon – Not one size fits all
WAREHOUSE OFFICE
75% manufacture
75% operation

Life cycle carbon- improving operational energy performance

RICS Standard Methodology – UK to Int’l

Embodied carbon is about material use: Average % of materials in different building types (AUT case studies)
Concrete and Steel represent major share of materials used in all building types = Carbon Hotspots
Source: Nick Deeks (2011) «Understanding the measurement of Carbon» at RICS Oceania
Annual Sustainability Seminar 2011 11

Focus on what we know
Product Construction Use End of life
Uncertainty
What is the exact specification of the building elements that will be installed?
How much energy will be used when transporting and assembling the building materials?
How often will individual elements be replaced?
Will the building be refurbished?
What will happen with the building in 60 years?

Life cycle stages of a building based on BS EN 15978:2011
PRODUCT stage
CONSTRUCTION
PROCESS stage
BUILDING LIFE CYCLE stages
USE stage
END OF LIFE stage
BEYOND BUILDING LIFE
CYCLE stages
Benefits and loads beyond the system boundary
Reuse-
Recovery-
Recyclingpotential
SCOPE OF
THE RICS
PAPER
Operational energy use
Operational water use

Concept design - embodied carbon benchmarks

Detailed design - embodied carbon calculation methodology

Analysing the results

Motivation To Measure? Call to Action?

Rating Systems Surveyed
• New Building Rating Systems (Office)
– LEED for New Construction v4 (4 th reading)
– BREEAM Europe Commercial 2009
– DGNB New Office and Administrative Buildings
– Green Star Office Rating v3

The Importance of Carbon in Rating Systems
Green Star
DGNB
BREEAM
LEED
0% 10%
48%
20% 30%
35%
40%
47%
50%
54%
60%

Embodied Carbon as a proportion of Total Carbon
Green Star
DGNB
BREEAM
LEED
0%
19%
78%
34%
15%
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Best Practice – DGNB Ecological Footprint
The ecological footprint of the building is calculated over the life cycle of 50 years. Within the life cycle, all stages are taken into account: Product stage, construction stage, in-use stage and operation of the building as well as end of life stages

Best Practice – BREEAM Green Guide

Best Practice – Green Star Individual Materials
• Mat 6/7 Aim – To encourage and recognize the reduction of embodied energy and resource depletion occurring through the use of concrete/virgin steel
• Mat 9 Aim – To encourage and recognize designs that minimize the embodied energy and resources associated with demolition.
• Mat 10 Aim- To encourage and recognize designs that produce a net reduction in the total amount of material used.

Best Practice – LEED Waste Diversion
• Construction and Demolition Waste Management
– Divert at least 75% of the total construction and demolition material; diverted materials must include at least 4 material streams; OR
– Do not generate more than 12,2 kg of waste per square meter of the building’s floor area.

We will not reduce energy use in construction!

Two solutions to the problem

We can (probably) tough it out
Homo Genus Humans

But maybe not…

The Apollo Missions – 11 years, 17 flights
• Apollo Guidance Computer
– .00004 GHz clock speed
– 4 KB RAM
• 5x IBM 365/75
– .01 GHz clock speed
– 8 MB RAM
• Apple iPhone 5
– 1.3 GHz clock speed
– 1 GB RAM

The Apollo Missions – 11 years, 17 flights
• iPhone is 32,500 times faster and has 250,000 times more memory than the Apollo guidance computer
• iPhone is 26 times faster and has 25 times more memory than all 5 IBM 360/75 computers combined

Do we need 170 billion USD to change this graph?

Commercial solar cell efficiency today 14-19%

We’ll need to store energy

Thank you for your attention
Michael P. Smithing,
FRICS
LEED AP ID+C, BREEAM Assessor, BREEAM In-Use Auditor
Director | Green Building Advisory, Eastern Europe
Colliers International
(+3630) 9214-219