Infrastructure - Haggard Earth

Details: Written by: Glenn and Rick; Category: Infrastructure; Hits: 10

Low-Cost, High-Value Opportunities to Reduce Embodied Carbon in Buildings, RMI Matt Jungclaus Aug 4, 2021 Buildings account for at least 39 percent of energy-related global carbon emissions on an annual basis. At least one-quarter of these emissions result from embodied carbon, or the carbssions associated with building materials and construction. The solutions for addressing embodied carbon in buildings have not been widely studied in the United States, leaving a significant knowledge gap for engineers, architects, contractors, policymakers, and building owners. Further, there is little information about the cost-effectiveness of reducing embodied carbon in buildings.

RMI’s new report, Reducing Embodied Carbon in Buildings: Low-Cost, High-Value Opportunities, helps fill this knowledge gap. The report demonstrates low- or no-cost options to reduce embodied carbon in buildings and provides design and construction strategies that can help limit a project’s embodied carbon. The case studies showcased in the report show an embodied carbon savings potential of 19 percent to 46 percent at cost premiums of less than 1 percent. Current practice indicates that we can achieve these reductions by specifying and substituting material alternatives with lower embodied carbon during the design and specification process. Far greater reductions are possible through a whole-building design approach.

This report was developed to help building owners, designers, contractors, and policymakers understand the low-cost and no-cost solutions for reducing embodied carbon in buildings. To accomplish that, we studied three building types and considered design strategies that can reduce embodied carbon at any stage of a project’s design and construction phases. The report quantifies the construction cost difference associated with low-embodied-carbon solutions and points to next-generation solutions that could drive even greater reductions.

Critical Materials Driving Embodied Carbon in US Buildings......In order to tackle embodied carbon in buildings, we first need to understand the carbon impact of the industries driving embodied carbon emissions. A building’s structure and substructure typically constitute the largest source of its up-front embodied carbon, up to 80 percent depending on building type. However, because of the relatively rapid renovation cycle of building interiors associated with tenancy and turnover, the total embodied carbon associated with interiors can account for a similar amount of emissions over the lifetime of a building. Our report focuses primarily on structural materials, metals (including steel and aluminum), cement, and timber. Each of these materials has a different embodied carbon content but is critical to our consideration of structural systems in this context.

Proven Solutions and Strategies to Reduce Embodied Carbon......Today, there are many solutions that can be leveraged to limit embodied carbon in new buildings. The totality of low-embodied-carbon solutions includes a long list of offerings that span a wide range of complexity. Most simply, low-embodied-carbon solutions for buildings can be broken down into three main categories: whole-building design, one-for-one material substitution, and specification......read on https://rmi.org/low-cost-high-value-opportunities-to-reduce-embodied-carbon-in-buildings/

Details: Written by: Glenn and Rick; Category: Infrastructure; Hits: 19

Low-Cost, High-Value Opportunities to Reduce Embodied Carbon in Buildings, RMI Matt Jungclaus Aug 4, 2021 Buildings account for at least 39 percent of energy-related global carbon emissions on an annual basis. At least one-quarter of these emissions result from embodied carbon, or the carbssions associated with building materials and construction. The solutions for addressing embodied carbon in buildings have not been widely studied in the United States, leaving a significant knowledge gap for engineers, architects, contractors, policymakers, and building owners. Further, there is little information about the cost-effectiveness of reducing embodied carbon in buildings.

RMI’s new report, Reducing Embodied Carbon in Buildings: Low-Cost, High-Value Opportunities, helps fill this knowledge gap. The report demonstrates low- or no-cost options to reduce embodied carbon in buildings and provides design and construction strategies that can help limit a project’s embodied carbon. The case studies showcased in the report show an embodied carbon savings potential of 19 percent to 46 percent at cost premiums of less than 1 percent. Current practice indicates that we can achieve these reductions by specifying and substituting material alternatives with lower embodied carbon during the design and specification process. Far greater reductions are possible through a whole-building design approach.

This report was developed to help building owners, designers, contractors, and policymakers understand the low-cost and no-cost solutions for reducing embodied carbon in buildings. To accomplish that, we studied three building types and considered design strategies that can reduce embodied carbon at any stage of a project’s design and construction phases. The report quantifies the construction cost difference associated with low-embodied-carbon solutions and points to next-generation solutions that could drive even greater reductions.

Critical Materials Driving Embodied Carbon in US Buildings......In order to tackle embodied carbon in buildings, we first need to understand the carbon impact of the industries driving embodied carbon emissions. A building’s structure and substructure typically constitute the largest source of its up-front embodied carbon, up to 80 percent depending on building type. However, because of the relatively rapid renovation cycle of building interiors associated with tenancy and turnover, the total embodied carbon associated with interiors can account for a similar amount of emissions over the lifetime of a building. Our report focuses primarily on structural materials, metals (including steel and aluminum), cement, and timber. Each of these materials has a different embodied carbon content but is critical to our consideration of structural systems in this context.

Proven Solutions and Strategies to Reduce Embodied Carbon......Today, there are many solutions that can be leveraged to limit embodied carbon in new buildings. The totality of low-embodied-carbon solutions includes a long list of offerings that span a wide range of complexity. Most simply, low-embodied-carbon solutions for buildings can be broken down into three main categories: whole-building design, one-for-one material substitution, and specification......read on https://rmi.org/low-cost-high-value-opportunities-to-reduce-embodied-carbon-in-buildings/

Details: Written by: Glenn and Rick; Category: Infrastructure; Hits: 16

Green-Gray Infrastructure Accelerator.WRI Offering technical assistance to 11 cities in sub-Saharan Africa to increase nature-based solutions and green-gray infrastructure to build climate resilience, fill infrastructure gaps, and deliver green jobs and public health benefits. Cities across sub-Saharan Africa face escalating climate risks — droughts, extreme heat, and frequent floods — that threaten public health, livelihoods and economies. By 2050, the share of urban residents in Africa facing at least eight days a year over 35 degrees C will rise from 66% to 85%, worsening heat-related illnesses and reducing worker productivity. Meanwhile, land-use changes are accelerating biodiversity loss, weakening essential ecosystem services.

With sub-Saharan Africa’s urban population expected to double by 2050, cities must address infrastructure gaps to protect vulnerable communities and ensure a climate-resilient future. This will be especially critical for the 60% of the region’s urban population that live in informal settlements, as they are particularly susceptible to climate risks.The Green-Gray Infrastructure (GGI) Accelerator works with cities in sub-Saharan Africa to address climate resilience challenges by delivering effective, context-tailored climate and infrastructure solutions. It offers cities technical assistance across the arc of project development — from feasibility to financing, and from pilot implementation to scale and replication.

Through the effective scaling of nature-based solutions (NBS) and GGI, these cities will become more livable, equitable, inclusive, resilient, and vibrant. Green-gray infrastructure leverages the benefits of natural “green” infrastructure like forests and mangroves with traditional “gray” infrastructure like seawalls and water treatment plants. Through this approach, cities can strengthen their existing infrastructure systems while building their climate resilience, protecting biodiversity and enhancing natural ecosystems.

The initial cohort is comprised of 11 cities across seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa, Ethiopia; Kigali and Musanze, Rwanda; Johannesburg and Gqeberha, South Africa; Bukavu and Uvira, the Democratic Republic of Congo; Nairobi, Kenya; Kumasi, Ghana; and Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo. The GGI Accelerator builds long-term resilience by providing cities with comprehensive support in five key areas......read on https://www.wri.org/initiatives/green-gray-infrastructure-accelerator

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Achieving the Paris Agreement’s goals of holding global temperature rise well below 2 °C with efforts to limit it to 1.5 °C requires rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The built environment embodies substantial emissions, posing a challenge to meeting these goals. We quantify the carbon cost of constructing the global built-environment over the past three decades and project it to 2050. Our findings indicate that the global construction carbon footprint has doubled over the past three decades and is projected to more than double by 2050. In 2022, over half of the construction industry’s carbon emissions stemmed from cementitious materials, bricks, and metals, while glass, plastics, chemicals, and bio-based materials contributed 6%, and the remaining 37% arose from transport, services, machinery, and on-site activities. Under the business-as-usual scenario, the construction carbon footprint alone will exceed the per-annum carbon budget for the 1.5 °C and 2 °C goals in the next two decades. It will use up all remaining carbon budget for the 1.5 °C goal by 2050, as our analysis highlights. Therefore, we advocate for a material revolution, such as replacing traditional materials with biobased materials, which leverages economies of scale and paves the way for a transformative and sustainable future in construction.

Introduction.....Each year, the world’s population increases by 80 million, with projections to rise to 9.7 billion by 20501,2. Much of this growth will be concentrated in cities, placing high pressure on the need for additional housing and infrastructure3. Simultaneously, the world remains committed to ambitious goals such as the Paris Agreement, which aims to hold global temperature rise to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels with efforts to limit it to 1.5 °C4..

This juxtaposition creates a profound challenge. The construction of the built environment relies heavily on some of the most carbon-intensive materials, including cement, steel, and clinker5,6,7. As a result, the construction industry is widely regarded as one of the most difficult industries to decarbonize8,9. Moreover, this industry accounts for approximately 40 Gt of sand and gravel extraction and more than 20% of freshwater consumption yearly, creating additional pressure to transform the industry into an environmentally friendly one. The tension lies in how to align the carbon cost of the global built environment with global climate commitments while at the same time providing the essential infrastructure for a growing population. To untangle this tension, we must understand whether, when, and how much the global construction carbon footprint will exceed the carbon budget under the current population growth and construction development. Currently, several gaps persist in addressing this issue. First, the historical trajectory of the carbon cost of constructing the built environment remains unclear11,12,13. Even less is known about the relative contributions of specific materials and processes and how these vary across different countries (see Supplementary Note 1–3). This gap extends into the future, raising questions about the extent to which current construction trends will evolve as the built environment expands under an increasingly constrained carbon budget......read the report https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02840-x .........AND....... https://worldgbc.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/22123951/WorldGBC_Bringing_Embodied_Carbon_Upfront.pdf

Details: Written by: Glenn and Rick; Category: Infrastructure; Hits: 44

Global construction's carbon footprint projected to double by 2050 A paper published in science journal Nature has predicted that the carbon footprint of the global construction industry set to double by 2050. Projected trends outlined in the recent article in Nature revealed that the construction industry's global emissions are predicted to at least double by 2050 based on current trends.According to the study, this rise is likely to breach goals outlined in the Paris Agreement unless the industry sees "rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions". Signed in 2016, the Paris Agreement seeks to limit a global temperature rise to 2 degrees celsius – or preferably 1.5 degrees – above pre-industrial levels, although data reveals goal this is likely to be breached by 2030.

"Growth trajectories showing no sign of deceleration"........The report, written by a team of researchers from Europe and China, outlines that the carbon footprint of the construction industry alone could account for all the carbon within this goal. "Our analysis shows that even if emissions from all other industries were reduced to zero, the construction carbon footprint alone would be enough to use up all remaining carbon budgets for 1.5 degrees celsius," the report writes. According to the study, the growth in carbon produced by construction will be is fuelled by "material-related inputs" of the industry, which refer to carbon-heavy materials like cement, bricks and metals.

Despite concerns over these material-related emissions, the report stated that "growth trajectories showing no sign of deceleration". is "Our analysis shows that even if emissions from all other industries were reduced to zero, the construction carbon footprint alone would be enough to use up all remaining carbon budgets for 1.5 degrees celsius," the report writes.

According to the study, the growth in carbon produced by construction will be fuelled by "material-related inputs" of the industry, which refer to carbon-heavy materials like cement, bricks and metals. Despite concerns over these material-related emissions, the report stated that "growth trajectories showing no sign of deceleration" Carbon-heavy materials account for half of industry emissionsIn 2022, over half of the construction industry's emissions stemmed from these high-carbon materials, while glass, plastics, chemicals, and bio-based materials contributed six per cent. The remaining 37 per cent is a result of transport, services, machinery and on-site activities. This rise in the use of carbon-heavy materials contributes to projections in construction-related carbon footprints globally, for which India, Africa, and the Middle East are expected to see the greatest increase.Contrastingly, developed economies like North America, Europe and Australia are projected to remain relatively stable, while China has been predicted a drop in its carbon footprint due to an expected population decline. A "material revolution" is needed to reach climate goals......read on https://www.dezeen.com/2025/11/13/global-construction-carbon-footprint-to-double-by-2050/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Dezeen&utm_content=Daily%20Dezeen+CID_21f4eab6fbed72516085c7cffea2d415&utm_source=Dezeen%20Mail&utm_term=Global%20constructions%20carbon%20footprint%20projected%20to%20double%20by%202050

Low-Cost, High-Value Opportunities to Reduce Embodied Carbon in Buildings,

Low-Cost, High-Value Opportunities to Reduce Embodied Carbon in Buildings

Green-Gray Infrastructure Accelerator.WRI. Offering Technical Assistance to 11 Cities in sub-Saharan Africa

Built Environment Embodies Substantial Emissions, posing a Challenge to meeting Climate Goals.

Global Construction's Carbon Footprint projected to Double by 2050

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