Low-cost ways to cut buildings' carbon footprint are already available to U.S. architects, contractors and construction materials suppliers, according to a new report from think tank RMI and global construction firm Skanska. (Canary Media is an independent subsidiary of RMI.)
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 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of building materials.
This report highlights low-cost and no-cost solutions for reducing embodied carbon in buildings during a project's design and construction phases. In case studies of three common building types, applying these solutions demonstrates an embodied carbon savings potential of 24 to 46 percent at cost premiums of less than 1 percent.
In fact, according to the report's case studies, deploying methods to make use of materials and standards that are already in place today could shave between a quarter to nearly half the typical building's embodied carbon at little more than 1 percent extra cost, compared to business-as-usual approaches.
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/we-already-have-the-low-cost-tools-we-need-to-cut-the-carbon-hidden-in-buildings------------------------------
Laurie Barlow AIA
Principal/Partner
L. Barlow & Company
South Pasadena CA
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