According to the latest report published by the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (Global ABC) on the global state of buildings and construction 2022, the current building sector is responsible for more than 37% of CO2 emissions associated with energy and its operations worldwide.
In response to this situation, the current trend in the building sector is to implement actions aligned with the pathway proposed by the Long Term Decarbonization Strategy (LTS 2050), which aims to reduce the sector’s emissions by up to 90% by 2050 compared to 1990. Until now, most efforts have focused on trying to reduce the impact associated with the operational phase of buildings.
However, the growing commitment to curb this climate crisis has highlighted the need to focus attention on the embedded carbon of buildings; in fact, it is known that between 10% and 20% of total building emissions come from the materials themselves, the construction processes, transportation, and the end-of-life phase of the building.
Life Cycle Analysis as a key tool
It is essential to quantify the impact in order to identify key actions on the road to decarbonization and achieve the proposed objectives.
In this sense, the life cycle analysis (LCA) is fundamental to evaluate the environmental impact, being a key tool in the measurement of sustainability.
Although this tool is still in an incipient phase of development, there are different studies through which it is possible to obtain reference frameworks for the carbon footprint associated with the constructions that make up the building stock in different contexts.
Regional differences in carbon footprint
According to the report “Embodied Carbon for European Buildings”, prepared by OneClick LCA, buildings in Eastern Europe have on average the highest level of embodied carbon per square meter.
This value is between 580-700 kg CO2e.
This is followed by buildings in Western Europe where the average embodied carbon ranges between 510 and 600 kg CO2e/sqm.
Finally, there are the buildings of Northern Europe, where the average embodied carbon ranges between 310 and 350 kg CO2e/m2, depending on the building typology.
The differences in the average results are partly explained by construction practices, and by differences in the typical characteristics of buildings in the regions.
“The buildings in the Northern European region have a significant share of wood construction and contain many small buildings, while most of the buildings in the Eastern European region in the sample are large, complex projects.”
Ineria Management’s experience
At Ineria Management, we perform life cycle analysis of buildings and try to study proposals that reduce their carbon footprint.
Twelve selected case studies show that the carbon footprints of buildings on the peninsula, after optimizations, are often within or even below the suggested threshold.
Practices aimed at reducing the impact of materials in construction
The substitution of materials for more sustainable ones, the optimization of their quantity, as well as the reduction of transportation processes, and the profitability of the products at the end of their useful life, allow a reduction of up to 30% in the carbon footprint associated with the building.
In this regard, it has been observed that considering an increase in the recycled content of the reinforcing steel reduces the total carbon footprint of the building by more than 7.5%, and the use of concrete with a higher aggregate content by an additional 9.2%.
On the other hand, replacing XPS insulation sheets with mineral fiber panels by 7.4%, or bituminous waterproofing sheets with thermoplastic polyolefin sheets by 1.1%.
Reducing the impact of building materials is vital.
The life-cycle assessment reports on the impact of the materials used in construction, as more and more low-carbon material options become available on the market.
Life cycle assessment informs their impact and facilitates responsible decisions, given the increasing availability of low-carbon options.
In addition, as consumers and manufacturers, it is necessary to focus on materials that have great virtues for the ecological transition, thus generating positive and regenerative impacts.
ESG and Green Building Consultant at Ineria Management
