As part
of the 10th annual World Green Building Week, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) has
issued a bold new vision for how buildings and infrastructure around the world
can reach 40% less embodied carbon emissions by 2030, and achieve 100% net zero
emissions buildings by 2050.
Together, building and construction are responsible
for 39% of all carbon emissions in the world, with operational emissions (from energy used to
heat, cool and light buildings) accounting for 28%. The remaining 11% comes
from embodied carbon emissions, or ‘upfront’ carbon that is associated with
materials and construction processes throughout the whole building
lifecycle. WorldGBC’s vision to fully decarbonise the sector requires
eliminating both operational and embodied carbon emissions.
The ‘Bringing embodied carbon upfront’ report
proposes this ambitious goal alongside solutions to accelerate immediate action
by the entire building and construction value chain. The vision is
endorsed by representatives from developers and construction companies,
financial institutions, city networks and government, as well as industry
representatives from concrete, steel and timber and many more including:
HeidelbergCement, Skanska, Stora Enso, Google and the Finnish Government.
The report sets out to
demystify the challenge of addressing embodied carbon emissions, through
breaking down complex terminology and creating a common language to set a
consensus-built definition for net zero embodied carbon.
Embodied
carbon emissions have been overlooked in the past but as shown by milestone research from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), achieving drastic cuts
in all carbon emissions over the next decade is critical to keeping global
temperature rise to 1.5oC. Addressing upfront carbon is therefore
crucial to fighting the climate crisis, as new construction is expected to
double the worlds building stock by 2060 causing an increase in the carbon
emissions occurring right now. Therefore, the new report is calling for
coordinated action from across the sector to dramatically change the way
buildings are designed, built, used and deconstructed.
WorldGBC
presents a clear pathway of actions that designers, investors, manufacturers,
government, NGOs and researchers across the whole value chain can take to
accelerate decarbonisation, address current market barriers and, develop low
carbon alternative solutions for market. However, the report warns that change
will not happen unless there is a radical shift in how industry works together
to enable a market transformation.
The
transition towards mainstream net zero carbon standards requires immediate
action to achieve greater awareness, innovation, improved processes to
calculate, track and report embodied carbon, voluntary reduction targets from
industry and roll out of new legislation at city, national and regional level.
Approaches such as maximising the use of existing assets, promoting renovation
instead of demolition and seeking new circular business models that reduce
reliance on carbon intensive raw materials are also needed. To kick-start
cross-sector collaboration, WorldGBC is calling for new national and sectoral
roadmaps to be developed, such as those produced in Finland,
Norway
and Sweden,
with strong support from industry and policymakers.
Demonstrating
the feasibility of achieving zero carbon goals, the report is supported by case
studies of existing best practice across the whole breadth of the building
industry.
Businesses
involved in design and delivery have already committed to ambitious individual
or national decarbonisation strategies. For example, Skanska,
a major development and construction group is making strides in enabling
projects to be evaluated for full lifecycle impacts.
Materials
suppliers are also taking a leading role. HeidelbergCement
has committed to developing carbon neutral products by 2050, and Dalmia
Bharat Cement, one of India’s leading cement manufacturers, is committed to
becoming a carbon negative group by 2040.
Cities
have also been instrumental in pushing for new innovations and approaches. Oslo,
Norway, has a commitment to fossil free construction sites. Vancouver,
Canada, has mandated that embodied carbon be reduced in new buildings by
40% by 2030, as part of its climate emergency response, demonstrating the type
of regulatory frameworks that can drive market change.
