CARBON LABELLING
FRAMEWORK FOR
CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS
Prof. Thomas Ng
Department of Civil Engineering
The University of Hong Kong
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Contents
I. Why We Need a Carbon Label for
Construction Materials?
II. The Carbon Labelling Framework

Assessment Framework

Initial Benchmarks
CO2e
III. Building a Low Carbon Future
2
CARBON LABELLING
FRAMEWORK FOR
CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS
I. Why We Need a
Carbon Label for
Construction Materials?
CARBON
LABELLING
H O N G
K O N G
“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal”
“The increase in global average temperatures since the
mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed
increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations”
Climate Change 2007, the Fourth Assessment Report,
United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 4
Hong Kong’s Carbon Footprint: 1962-2007
Source: WWF-Hong Kong (2011), Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2010,
Paths to Sustainable Future, Hong Kong
5
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Why We Need a Carbon Label for
Construction Materials?


Manufacturing of construction
materials could contribute to
70% of GHG emissions at the
construction stage, and 15% of
a building’s life time energy
consumption
No unanimous definition for
“low carbon” materials, nor
agreed method for evaluating
the carbon footprint of
construction materials
6
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Making Decisions at Early Stages
Source: Fieldson et al., 2009
7
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Examples of Product Carbon Labels Worldwide
UK
JAPAN
USA
FRANCE
KOREA
N. AMERICA
CANADA
TAIWAN
8
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
A Carbon Labelling Scheme is critical and
effective in reducing the carbon footprint of
construction projects in Hong Kong
C A R B O N
LABELLING
H
Cement
Rebar
Structural
Steel
O
N
G
K
Aluminium
O
N
G
Glass
Ceramic
Tiles
9
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Development Process
Review Existing
Carbon Labelling
Schemes
• Relevant standards/
frameworks
• Benchmarking
mechanism
• Carbon inventory
• Implementation
Strategies
Desktop Study &
Data Collection
Examine
Implications of
Carbon Labelling in
Construction
Develop a Carbon
Labelling Scheme
for Construction
Materials
Formulate
Strategies and
Implementation
Plans
• Industry perceptions,
concerns, obstacles
• Characteristics and supply
chain of selected
materials
• Carbon assessment
methodology and
framework
• Benchmarks setting and
Benchmarking
mechanism
• Voluntary / mandatory
schemes
• Roles of various industry
stakeholders
Expert Interviews
(1st round, N=13)
Expert Interviews (2nd round, N=11; 3rd round, N=10),
Consultation Forum & Questionnaire Survey
10
CARBON LABELLING
FRAMEWORK FOR
CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS
II. The Carbon Labelling
Framework:
Assessment Framework




Product Categories
Normative References
Carbon Assessment Principles
and Requirements
Demonstration: Cement
Product Categories
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Material
Central
Product
Classification
(CPC)
Product Category under the Labelling Scheme
Cement
Class 3744
All cement products using in construction including
Portland cement, Portland-composite cement, Blast
furnace cement; Pozzolanic cement; and composite
cement
1 tonne
Rebar &
Structural
Steel
Division 41
Four major types of steel products used in construction :
1.Steel sections
2.Steel plates
3.Steel pipes
4.Reinforcement bars
1 tonne
Aluminium
Division 41
All aluminium products used in construction including
powders and flakes; bars, rods and profiles; wire; plates,
sheets and strip of a thickness exceeding 0.2mm; foil, of
a thickness not exceeding 0.2mm; tubes, pipes and
tube or pipe fittings
1 tonne
Glass
Class 3711
1. Glass for internal use (float glass; tinted glass; wired
1 tonne
Ceramic
Tiles
Group 373
(based on ICE in UK and relevant standards if appropriate)
glass; heat-strengthened/ toughened glass;
laminated glass)
2. Glass for external use (float glass; surface-coated
glass - lowE glass, reflective glass; insulated glass unit)
All ceramic tiles for both internal and external use
Functional
Unit
1 m2
1 tonne
12
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Normative References




PAS 2050:2011, Specification for the
Assessment of Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas
Emissions of Goods and Services,
British Standard Institute (BSI), UK
BS EN ISO 14025:2010, Environmental Labels and
Declarations – Type III Environmental Declarations –
Principles and Procedures
BS EN ISO 14044:2006, Environmental Management – Life
Cycle Assessment – Requirements and Guidelines
IPCC: 2006, Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas
Inventories, National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Programme, IPCC
13
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Principles of Carbon Assessment
Accuracy
Transparency
Consistency
Product Carbon
Footprint
Assessment
Relevance
Completeness
Source: ISO 14064-1:2006
14
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Requirements of Carbon Assessment
- Scope


Cover six types of GHGs, namely CO2, methane
(CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons
(HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur
hexafluoride (SF6) which impact directly on global
warming
Measure by mass and then be converted into CO2e
emissions using the latest IPCC 100-year global
warming potential (GWP) coefficients
15
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Requirements of Carbon Assessment
- Scope (cont.)

Assesses GHG emissions from “cradle to site”, including raw materials
extraction, manufacturing, and transporting the product to HK (except for
external glass, the carbon saving is assessed during the usage phase)
“cradle to site”
16
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Requirements of Carbon Assessment
- Scope (cont.)

The following sources of emissions contributed to >1% of
the product’s anticipated life cycle GHG emissions should be
included








energy use
combustion processes
chemical reactions
loss to atmosphere of refrigerants and other fugitive GHGs
process operations
service provision and delivery
land use and land use change
waste management
17
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Requirements of Carbon Assessment
- Footprint Assessment Process
Source: PAS 2050:2011
18
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
System Boundary for Estimating Carbon
Footprint of Cement Products
Upstream
Processes
•
•
•
•
Extraction and production of raw materials
Transportation of raw material to the plant
Recycling process of recycled materials used in a product
Energy used in raw material production
Core
Processes
•
•
•
•
Production of raw mix
Burning of clinker
Grinding of cement
Storage of cement for dispatch
Downstream
Process
• Transportation from manufacturing to the border of HK
19
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Process Map of Cement Products
20
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Carbon Assessment Tool of
Cement Products
21
CARBON LABELLING
FRAMEWORK FOR
CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS
II. The Carbon Labelling
Framework:
Initial Benchmarks




Benchmarking Mechanisms
Adopted in Worldwide Ecolabelling Schemes
Review of Carbon Inventories
Initial Benchmarks
The Carbon Label Design
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Benchmarking Mechanisms Adopted in
Worldwide Eco-labelling Schemes
Award labels
Regime
Award to products
that produce less
GHGs than a
predetermined
emission level
Examples  Energy Star (US)
 Green Label
Scheme (HK)
 European
EcoLabel (EU)

Scoring / percentage
labels
Award to products
that reduce GHGs
emission to a certain
percentage
compared to
conventional
production
 Carbon Trust (UK)
 Thailand
Greenhouse Gas
Management
Organisation labels
Tiered rating / grading
labels
Products are labelled
in different grades /
tiers according to
their performance
among suppliers
 Voluntary Energy
Efficiency Labelling
Scheme (HK)
 Product
Certification
(Singapore)
 China Energy Label
Local industry practitioners consulted generally preferred the multiple benchmarking
mechanism so as to motivate material suppliers channelling continuous effort in reducing
carbon footprint
23
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Benchmarking Mechanisms Adopted in
Worldwide Eco-labelling Schemes (cont.)



Benchmarking intervals usually range between10-15%
(for labelling schemes with five grades); with the
benchmarking interval being narrower for the higher
grades (~10%) than that for the lower grade (~15-20%)
To promote industry participation, many labelling
schemes do not impose a minimum requirement for the
lowest grade
The reference value for benchmarking is commonly set
by taking the average performance of a specific
product category
24
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Review of Carbon Inventories
As a local carbon inventory is unavailable, the
benchmarks of specific product category were initially
set by referring to three prominent overseas inventories:
i. Ecoinvent in Switzerland
ii. US Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)
iii. Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE) in UK


The emission data in these inventories are considered
rigorous and reliable for formulating the initial
benchmarks of the carbon labelling scheme
25
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Review of Carbon Inventories (cont.)
Country of
Origin
Materials
Included
Data
source
Cement
Rebar &
Structural
Steel
Aluminium
Glass
Ceramic
Tiles
ICE
US LCI
Ecoinvent
United Kingdom
United States
Switzerland
35 construction material
groups; over 200
materials
Over 180 materials
125 building materials;
over 4000 processes
Local Providers (e.g. US
Literature (journal
Environmental
articles, LCA, books,
Protection Agency,
conference papers, etc.
Portland Cement
Association, etc.)
No. Records
Literature and Local
Providers
94
5
159
N.A.
111
N.A.
3
75
2
limited
1
26
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Initial Benchmarks
where:
•Eda refers to the average
carbon emission value
obtained from overseas
databases: Ecoinvent, ICE &
US life cycle inventory (US
LCI)
•Em refers to the submitted
carbon emission value


The intervals are subject to review based on local data
The benchmarks should be replaced by local data and adjusted on a
regular basis in the long run
27
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Initial Benchmarks of Cement Products
where:
•Em refers to the submitted
carbon emission value
28
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
The Carbon Label Design
Details of the product including
name of product, size / weight,
assessment boundary, etc.
Carbon footprint of the product
in CO2e over different key life
cycle stages
Awarded grade of the product
based on the pre-determined
benchmarks
Detail information of the label
including the assessment
method and the authorising
organisation
29
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Significance of the
Carbon Labelling Scheme




CARBON
LABELLING
H O N G
K O N G
Robust and standardised frameworks for assessing and
reporting the carbon footprint of the six selected
construction materials
Assist clients, design team members and contractors to
select low carbon materials
Generate market force to promote a low carbon
manufacturing and production process
Regular review of benchmarks shall encourage
manufacturers for continuous improvement
30
CARBON LABELLING
FRAMEWORK FOR
CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS
III. Building a Low Carbon
Future



Implementing the Labelling
Scheme
Challenges Ahead
Recommendations
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Implementing the Labelling Scheme
- Lessons Learnt from Overseas Experiences




Implemented on a voluntary basis, a series of education and
publicity campaigns would help enhance the awareness of
industry practitioners on the importance of assessing carbon
footprint (experience from US and Japan)
Provision of incentives is a critical success factor for any green
initiatives especially during the early stage of implementation
(experience from UK)
Government being one of the major clients in construction shall
play a leading role in driving the carbon labelling (experience from
US and Japan)
While carbon labelling is a novel concept, it would be more
practical and feasible to implement the labelling scheme in a
progressive manner (experience from Japan)
32
Implementing the
Labelling Scheme
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Challenges of Implementing the Carbon
Labelling Scheme
Challenges
Remedies
Upstream data (e.g.
emissions of raw material
extraction)
Use the most reliable set of
secondary data
Credibility of data submitted
by material suppliers
A rigorous certification process
Overseas data are used in
setting initial benchmarks in
some product categories
Collect emission data to
develop local database
Full promotion of the initial
Limited application of carbon
implementation of the carbon
label
labelling scheme
34
Carbon Labelling Framework
For Construction Materials
Building a Low Carbon Future

The Carbon Labelling Scheme:









Establishing a local carbon inventory and thereby the
localised benchmarks
Extending the scope
Exploring various incentives
Export to overseas markets
Recycle / reuse of the end-of-life materials
Use local / regional manufactured materials
Construction material / waste reduction (e.g. modular
design; prefabrication; BIM)
Green procurement (e.g. incorporating project carbon
footprint into bid evaluation; pay for the environment)
Carbon tax / trading
35
Thank you
CO2e
CARBON LABELLING
FRAMEWORK FOR
CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS
Prof. Thomas Ng
Department of Civil Engineering
The University of Hong Kong
tstng@hku.hk