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Bringing Embodied Carbon Upfront Bringing embodied carbon upfront Coordinated action for the building and construction sector to tackle embodied carbon 2 Bringing embodied carbon upfront 3 Coordinated action for the building and construction sector to tackle embodied carbon World Green Building Council Acknowledgements The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) is a global network leading the transformation of the built environment, to make it healthier and more sustainable. Collectively, with our Green Building Councils (GBCs) in around 70 countries, we accelerate action to deliver on the ambition of the Paris Agreement, by eliminating Report team the buildings and construction sector´s emissions by 2050. We are committed to green buildings for everyone, everywhere to build a better future. World Green Building Council Ramboll Author: Matthew Adams, Project Coordinator, Advancing Net Zero Christine Collin Author: Victoria Burrows, Director, Advancing Net Zero Xavier Le Den Our approach to this report Author: Stephen Richardson, Head of Projects, Europe Regional Network Lars Ostenfeld Riemann The research for this report has been conducted in three phases. In the first phase, a detailed literature James Drinkwater, Director, Europe Regional Network Samy Porteron review and expert interviews were carried out. These were followed in the second phase by a series of stakeholder workshops that applied visioning and backcasting methods to identify possible pathways to Cristina Gamboa, CEO Andreas Qvist Secher achieving net zero embodied carbon. Finally, in the third phase, the drafting of the report has been reviewed and consulted on by hundreds of experts and stakeholders from across the value chain in order to refine and strengthen our proposals. Report funders Report contributors Technical partner European Climate We Mean Business (WMB) Ramboll Foundation (ECF) WorldGBC European Delivery partner Children's Investment Regional Network Fund Foundation (CIFF) C40 Cities Contact information Web www.worldgbc.org Twitter @worldgbc Advancing Net Zero Alliance HQE-GBC (France) Hong Kong GBC Email [email protected] GBCA (Australia) Indian GBC Green Building GBC Brasil GBC Indonesia London, United Kingdom office Toronto, Canada office Council (GBC) Canada GBC Irish GBC c/o UK Green Building Council Attention: World Green Building Council China Acandemy of Building GBC Italia The Building Centre 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 236 Steering Committee Research (CABR) Jordan GBC 26 Store Street Toronto, Ontario Croatia GBC New Zealand GBC London M5V 3A8 DGNB (Germany) Norwegian GBC WC1E 7BT Canada Dutch GBC Singapore GBC United Kingdom Emirates GBC GBC South Africa GBC España Sweden GBC GBC Finland UKGBC Guatemala GBC USGBC Disclaimer This report is written by staff from WorldGBC, with support from C40 Cities and Ramboll, Other contributors We would also like to acknowledge the contributions made by and contributions from the Green Building Councils and other organisations listed. The views the people and organisations who provided expert interviews, expressed in this report are those of WorldGBC and do not necessarily reflect the view of all to the report participated in our workshops and provided feedback during other parties named. consultation and report drafting. A full list of contributors can be found at our website: © World Green Building Council, September 2019 www.worldgbc.org/embodied-carbon 5 Glossary ...................................................................................... 5 Executive summary .................................................................... 7 Background and context – the climate emergency .......................................................................7 Bringing embodied carbon ‘upfront’ ...............................................................................................7 Glossary Our vision – going further and faster to decarbonise across the whole lifecycle .......................7 Our goals – the purpose of this report ............................................................................................8 A variety of different terms and definitions are used in connection with greenhouse gas Achieving our vision – collaboration, market demand, and what it means for you ....................8 emissions from different stages of the lifecycle of products, buildings and infrastructure. Each Current global leadership – a catalyst for market transformation ..............................................9 term may include different interpretations and meanings across different sectors of the market and across countries and regions. This glossary defines what is meant by certain key terms Net zero embodied carbon – definition and principles ................................................................9 used within this report. In the following definitions we make reference to the lifecycle stages or Converting barriers into opportunities – key steps towards net zero embodied carbon ...........11 modules defined in the widely-adopted European standard EN 15978 shown in figure 1. Taking action now – how you can respond to the climate emergency ........................................11 Figure 2: Summary of all stakeholder specific goals .....................................................................12 Supplementary Endorsements ............................................................................. 14 information beyond Use stage embodied carbon* the building life cycle Our vision .................................................................................... 16 A1-3 A4-5 B1-7 C1-4 D Benefits and loads Driving the shift towards whole value chain collaboration ...........................................................16 PRODUCT CONSTRUCTION USE stage END OF LIFE stage PROCESS stage stage beyond the Our goals ..........................................................................................................................................17 building life cycle B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 Time value of carbon and the importance of upfront emissions .................................................17 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 C1 C2 C3 C4 Opportunities for reducing embodied carbon ................................................................................19 Use Reuse Our definition .....................................................................................................................................20 Repair Maintenance Replacement Refurbishment Recovery Whole life carbon* Whole life Embodied carbon* Disposal Transport Transport Carbon reduction potential ..............................................................................................................20 Transport demolition Construction- Recycle Manufacturing De-construction Waste processing Waste installation process Our principles ....................................................................................................................................21 Raw material supply B6 Operational energy use State of the market ...................................................................... 22 Understanding embodied carbon today .........................................................................................22 Upfront carbon* Operational carbon* End of life carbon* Beyond the lifecycle* Rising demand for construction materials and the case for action ............................................22 *Terms used in this report and B7 Operational water use Key sources of embodied carbon – construction elements and materials .................................22 defined in the glossary below Assessment methods, low carbon design tools and data ............................................................27 Out of scope Current leadership on embodied carbon ........................................................................................31 Figure 1: Terminology used in this report cross-referenced to terms and lifecycle stages defined in EN 15978 Barriers and opportunities ........................................................... 35 Key areas where solutions are needed ...........................................................................................35 Carbon emissions Used in this report to refer to all • Embodied carbon Carbon emissions Awareness and demand ...................................................................................................................35 emissions of greenhouse gases. Their global warming associated with materials and construction potential (GWP) is quantified in units of carbon dioxide processes throughout the whole lifecycle Theory of change ........................................................................ 37 equivalence. A kilogram of carbon dioxide therefore of a building or infrastructure. Embodied How change in our sector will happen ............................................................................................37 has a GWP of 1 kgCO2e. carbon therefore includes: material Enabling change – the key drivers ..................................................................................................38 extraction (module A1), transport to • Beyond the lifecycle Carbon emissions or manufacturer (A2), manufacturing (A3), Calls to action ............................................................................. 39 emissions savings incurred due to reuse or transport to site (A4), construction (A5), Stakeholder specific pathways for tackling embodied carbon .....................................................39 recycling of materials
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