Why? Both the construction as well as the operation of buildings and infrastructure are major contributors to climate change. For many years, the operational impact and energy efficiency countermeasures have been in the focus of policy, planners, architects and the industry. At the same time, the impact of past construction until today is often overlooked. These so-called embodied emissions are generated during the production, processing and transport of building materials, as well as during the maintenance of a building, such as the servicing of technical equipment or renovation work, and finally during demolition of the building.
As we strive for a low-carbon future, the problem is that both emission types concern the same thing over a building’s whole life cycle: carbon emissions. And both types are very connected of each other. For example, when more insulation layers are added on the walls during construction, the more (embodied) emissions are upfront “invested” upfront to lower the buildings heating (operational) emissions during the many years of occupancy. Whether this trade-off, the investment in upfront building materials to lower long-term operational emissions, is good or bad for the climate is complex. It depends on many factors such as which material is used and what the heating system is, but also uncertainties such as the length of the actual building lifetime and the level of decarbonization of the energy supply. So while there is a very wide range of complexity behind making the right choice, and many factors can only be approached by assumptions beforehand, approaching optimal, climate-friendly design decisions always starts with whole-life carbon thinking. And that is what this project is raising awareness for among builders and architects.
