Three Ideas to Support Decarbonizing the Built Environment

First, a quick refresher. Embodied carbon consists of the GHG emissions associated with construction, including extracting, transporting, manufacturing, and installing building materials on-site. It also includes the operational and end-of-life emissions associated with those materials.

One way construction suppliers assess the embodied carbon of their materials is through Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). EPDs provide the transparency needed to better understand the environmental impacts of products that become part of the built environment. They objectively communicate the resources used and waste produced during the life cycle of a given material. This helps illustrate how they affect the environment across their entire life span. As a result, EPDs with verified third-party data can earn credits for LEED and other green building rating systems. There are other measurement tools as well including the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3) and Tally. Both seek to provide better insight into the environmental impacts of materials used on construction projects.

In addition to measuring tools, suppliers have options when it comes to the materials they use. They can select materials containing high recycled content to reduce the energy demand associated with virgin raw materials. As the carbon to extract and process these materials has already been spent, there’s less pollution generated. Suppliers can also choose bio-based content or content derived from living matter, which lowers the carbon footprint of products by keeping previously absorbed carbon from re-entering the atmosphere.

The first step your suppliers and partners can take to reduce the emissions associated with their operations is to use energy more efficiently. Powering operations with renewable energy is one way to reduce emissions from energy consumption and reduce the overall carbon footprint, but it isn’t always possible.

This is when tools such as renewable energy credits (RECs) come into play. RECs can be procured by an organization to guarantee that their electricity has been generated from a renewable source such as solar, wind, or hydroelectric.

As an example, DIRTT’s U.S. plants are powered by 100% renewable energy through the purchase of Green-e^® certified RECs. By supplementing with renewable energy, organizations are able to avoid traditional energy sources, including fossil fuels, that primarily power the local grid. When suppliers use RECs, they can reduce their operational carbon footprints and support renewable energy initiatives. These efforts are reflected in the measurements of Life Cycle Assessments and EPDs, which in turn help clients meet their goals for sourcing sustainable materials.