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Globally, the construction industry’s operational carbon accounts for 28% of carbon emissions, while its embodied carbon accounts for 11%.
Two carbon counts matter the most—embodied, or the emissions from the production of the building materials used, and operational, or the emissions from the operation of a home.
While a homeowner can reduce operational carbon through energy retrofits and system upgrades, most of the decisions about embodied carbon are made while the home is still a blueprint. So, right from the beginning, designers and homebuilders have a tremendous opportunity and responsibility for reducing embodied carbon.
Achieving energy efficiency in a home or building should not come at the cost of significantly increasing the carbon footprint from materials and construction. BKC’s balanced approach ensures that both operational and embodied carbon are addressed for the best result.
Through our Builder 360° approach, we incorporate the latest knowledge of both operational and embodied carbon. This gives designers and builders confidence that they can communicate the true value of the home in a way that environmentally conscious buyers can understand—and future regulators will be able to verify. Our approach also takes into account individual builders’ markets and needs, as well as the cost-effectiveness of carbon-reduction techniques.
We provide assessment, modeling, and consulting services to calculate your project’s whole carbon emissions:
Baseline assessments – This involves mapping and establishment of the current design’s carbon footprint, for both operational and embodied carbon.
Carbon-reduction strategies – Working with you, we determine your carbon-reduction targets over a given period—from 5 to 30 years—and assess the local codes and incentives available for meeting those targets. We also take into account the local market and information available on alternative systems and products that might have lower carbon footprints. At this point, we can recommend a variety of carbon-reduction techniques and strategies.
Reporting – Once a home design is finalized, we provide training on how to report on key energy and carbon metrics. This not only makes the home more attractive to buyers but also gives builders clear information that they can communicate when they rent or sell the home.
Reduce the need for costly adjustments during building construction
Insights and data on how to:
Reducing Operational Carbon
Reducing operational carbon in new builds requires a tailored approach based on specific project goals and site conditions. Common strategies we recommend include but are not limited to:
Advanced Mechanical Systems: Incorporating high-efficiency heat-recovery ventilators, heat pumps, and smart thermostats to optimize energy use.
On-Site Energy Generation: Installing renewable energy systems like solar panels and integrating energy-efficient electrical appliances.
High-Performance Building Materials: Utilising low-emissivity (low-e) coatings, triple-paned windows, and enhanced insulation to minimize heat loss.
Enhanced Airtightness and Design: Implementing advanced sealing techniques, and following ENERGY STAR® or Net Zero Ready building standards to reduce energy consumption and improve overall performance.
Choosing these techniques depends on the local climate, market, regulations, and incentives. Above all, it’s vital for the techniques to work together, treating the house as a system.
Reducing Embodied Carbon
Reducing embodied carbon involves two main considerations:
Design for material efficiency – The sheer amount of material is the largest factor, and efficient design can reduce this, along with the costs of buying, transporting, assembling, and disposing of it.
Build with lower-carbon materials – Carbon-intensive materials don’t have to be the default. Our team can help to identify lower-carbon alternatives that will perform as well—and sometimes at a lower cost. It can also mean finding a local supplier or using innovative techniques.
Do you know your numbers?
Do you need help developing a plan to meet or exceed your carbon reduction goals? We can help. Contact us.
The carbon footprint of a home is the combination of operational emissions plus the embedded emissions over its life cycle. Both of these have to be weighed against the costs.
This calculation depends on energy modeling. For this, there are various off-the-shelf software products that can assess home designs. Added to this are the operating costs of systems (such as HVAC) and appliances. Intelligent modeling takes into account how these systems work together.
What it cannot take into account is the number of residents and their lifestyles, who may be more or less responsible with energy, or simply do not understand how to get the most out of their homes’ systems. For this, builders have an educational responsibility to their buyers—and BKC can help prepare them.
This calculation rests on two factors: the total mass of each material used in the construction of a building, multiplied by the amount of carbon needed to manufacture, transport, assemble, maintain, and dispose of it. Because the amount of material is known during the design phase, this should be easy math.
But things get complicated fast: not all materials are made the same way, and manufacturing processes differ in their energy efficiency. What’s more, if you have to transport materials from far away, there’s a carbon cost to that. An exotic stone from another continent represents more embodied carbon than the granite or sandstone under your feet does.
In most buildings, the biggest culprits are steel, insulation, concrete, and aluminum. Wood, despite being largely carbon itself, has low embodied carbon, as that carbon is drawn from the atmosphere as trees grow and is returned there after disposal. Reusable materials, such as cellulose insulation, have much lower embodied carbon than fibreglass.
Building well doesn’t always mean expensive: energy efficiency generally pays for itself over time. Our BKC team will help you devise strategies to bring up-front and long-term costs in line with your customers’ budgets.
“We rely on Building Knowledge for all commissioning and verification of all Great Gulf low-rise projects. This includes all airtightness testing and all pre-development energy modelling on drawings for permits. Building Knowledge also provides in-house training for service, sales staff, and construction on the benefits of how to build, sell and service energy-efficient homes.”
