Alice Moncaster

A comparative review of existing data and methodologies for calculating embodied energy and carbon of buildings

Extended abstract In the Climate Change Act of 2008 the UK Government pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. As one step towards this, regulations are being introduced requiring all new buildings to be ‘zero carbon’ by 2019. These are defined as buildings which emit net zero carbon during their operational lifetime. However, in order to meet the 80% target it is necessary to reduce the carbon emitted during the whole life-cycle of buildings, including that emitted during the manufacture of materials and components, and during the processes of construction, refurbishment and demolition. These elements make up the ‘embodied carbon’ of the building. This paper reviews the existing European and UK standards, methodologies, databases and software tools for the estimation of embodied energy and carbon of buildings. While there is currently no legislation requiring the calculation of embodied energy in buildings, voluntary standards are being developed by the European Committee for Standardisation Te...

Embodied carbon mitigation and reduction in the built environment – What does the evidence say?

Of all industrial sectors, the built environment puts the most pressure on the natural environment, and in spite of significant efforts the International Energy Agency suggests that buildings-related emissions are on track to double by 2050. Whilst operational energy efficiency continues to receive significant attention by researchers, a less well-researched area is the assessment of embodied carbon in the built environment in order to understand where the greatest opportunities for its mitigation and reduction lie. This article approaches the body of academic knowledge on strategies to tackle embodied carbon (EC) and uses a systematic review of the available evidence to answer the following research question: how should we mitigate and reduce EC in the built environment? 102 journal articles have been reviewed systematically in the fields of embodied carbon mitigation and reduction, and life cycle assessment. In total, 17 mitigation strategies have been identified from within the existing literature which have been discussed through a meta-analysis on available data. Results reveal that no single mitigation strategy alone seems able to tackle the problem; rather, a pluralistic approach is necessary. The use of materials with lower EC, better design, an increased reuse of EC-intensive materials, and stronger policy drivers all emerged as key elements for a quicker transition to a low carbon built environment. The meta-analysis on 77 LCAs also shows an extremely incomplete and short-sighted approach to life cycle studies. Most studies only assess the manufacturing stages, often completely overlooking impacts occurring during the occupancy stage and at the end of life of the building. The LCA research community have the responsibility to address such shortcomings and work towards more complete and meaningful assessments.

Decision-making for the demolition or adaptation of buildings

This paper considers why the decision may be made either to demolish or adapt existing buildings on brownfield sites and compares real-life decisions to those produced by theoretical design-support tools. Five case studies, including three individual buildings and two master plan sites of multiple buildings, were investigated through interviews with stakeholders. Reasons for retention included heritage value, architectural quality and government incentives, while reasons for demolition included maximising land value, lack of architectural significance and poor building condition. The analysis showed that the theoretical tools were useful for their intended purpose of analysing a portfolio of assets but that they could be improved by providing higher weightings for heritage values and extending the tools to assess different end uses and forms of adaptation. By testing the tools on master plan sites, the paper also identifies urban design variables, such as land efficiency, which would need to be incorporated for this purpose.

Policies and outcomes for UK sustainable schools

The 1997–2010 UK governments priorities for education and improved social equality led to the development of two major school building programmes: the Academies programme and Building Schools for the Future (BSF). Political concerns for social, economic and environmental sustainability were increasing during the same period, leading to stated new aspirations from 2004 for the schools to be ‘models of sustainable development’. The key political discourses for ‘sustainable schools’ during this era are examined. While some aspects of the initial focus on social equity were retained, there was a rapid shift in emphasis towards environmental sustainability, and specifically carbon reduction. The impacts of these shifting discourses are then considered on four school building projects, examining the technical decisions made and their intended and unintended consequences. Within the diversity and complexity of individual building projects, the paper also exposes both the changing priorities within the construction sector during this period and the impacts of some specific policy tools. The considerable interpretive flexibility in the implementation of the policies is demonstrated, along with variability in their outcomes. Built environment policy should be understood as a continuous process that shapes and reshapes what happens.

Building Information Modelling, Building Performance, Design and Smart Construction

This book charts the path toward high performance sustainable buildings and the smart dwellings of the future. The volume clearly explains the principles and practices of high performance design, the uses of building information modelling (BIM), and the materials and methods of smart construction. Power Systems, Architecture, Material Science, Civil Engineering and Information Systems are all given consideration, as interdisciplinary endeavours are at the heart of this green building revolution.

Financing energy efficiency measures in buildings – a new method of appraisal

Our current generation strives to provide the next crucial stepping stone towards sustainable buildings, delivering energy efficiency measures without compromise in ways which are financially viable. Selecting and implementing simple energy efficiency measures (EEMs) to reduce energy use and become more sustainable can be straightforward. More complex measures are under continuous improvement and have a greater range of financial options. Making the right long-term choice is difficult and the United Kingdom (UK) market remains sceptical. The results of this paper show that risk and uncertainty are the two key factors that inhibit wholesale adoption of EEMs and as a result a new method of long-term assessment is proposed. The Energy Efficiency Value Matrix (EEVM) consists of the following functional drivers: Cost, Flexibility, Maintenance, Energy Saving and Product Sourcing. Under these headings a building owner may consider any EEM and make a more informed choice. From residential to commercial buildings,...

Embodied Carbon Measurement, Mitigation and Management Within Europe, Drawing on a Cross-Case Analysis of 60 Building Case Studies

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the art on this subject within Europe. In order to do so, it draws on a cross-case analysis of over 60 European case studies, developed and analysed by the authors as part of the International Energy Agency Annex 57 project.

A Method for Visualising Embodied and Whole Life Carbon of Buildings

Embodied and whole life carbon of buildings are increasingly gaining attention. However, embodied carbon calculation is still far from being common practice for sustainability assessment of buildings. Some of its greatest difficulties lie with the long life span of buildings which implies a great unpredictability of future scenarios and high uncertainty of data. To help understand which life cycle stages should get the most attention when considering a building project, this chapter proposes a new visualisation method based on Sankey diagrams for whole life carbon that allows one to cluster the carbon emitted in each of the life cycle stages as identified in current BS 15978 standards. With the proposed method, the carbon figures can be further broken down to account for building assemblies and components. Additionally, the method is equally suitable to account for physical quantities of what is embedded in buildings and their components. As such it can supplement some units of existing assessment methods (e.g., metal depletion measured in mass units of Feeq) and turn it into mass units of embodied steel. With such new metric, a life cycle assessment would include knowledge on flows as well as quantities. Such information could then be linked to the building permanently and smartly to be updated when necessary as the building evolves, changes, and gets upgraded, building on the theoretical foundations of the shearing layers of buildings. As such, this information could be embedded within BIM which is fully suitable to store parametric details for each building component.

A Theoretical Framework for Circular Economy Research in the Built Environment

Circular economy is quickly gaining momentum across numerous research fields. The founding principles of circular economies lie in a different perspective on, and management of, resources under the idea that an ever-growing economic development and profitability can happen without an ever-growing pressure on the environment. As such, the built environment has a lot to contribute, being the sector with the greatest environmental impacts. However, the few existing cases of current research in the built environment from a circular economy perspective seem to have just replaced the 3R principle (reduce, reuse, recycle) with the new ‘buzz-word’. In this paper, we argue that a significantly different research approach is necessary if the circular economy is to keep up to its promise of being a new paradigm for sustainability. We therefore propose a framework to formulate building research from within a circular economy perspective. The framework is built around six pillars and acknowledges the key role of interdisciplinary research and that of both bottom-up and top-down initiatives to facilitate the transition to ‘circular’ buildings. Although theoretical in nature, the framework has been tested against current discourse about buildings and circular economies and it has proven a valuable tool to cluster existing initiatives and highlight missing interdisciplinary links. As such it can provide a valuable starting point to contribute to the theoretical foundations of building research from within the new paradigm of circular economies and also shape future research directions.

The Role of Stakeholders in Masterplan Regeneration Decisions

Brownfield sites often contain existing buildings and during regeneration the decision to demolish or adapt them should consider sustainability principles. This paper discusses decision-making criteria obtained through a literature review and primary research including 18 interviews, 2 workshops and 2 focus group discussions. The most frequently mentioned criteria including building condition; heritage value and capital costs are evaluated. Criteria are then analysed from different stakeholder perspectives and the paper identifies where stakeholder values align. The paper forms part of a three year research project which aims to develop a decision-making framework to assist with integrated and holistic decision making.