Why reduce embodied carbon?

Architects and engineers have focused on reducing operational emissions since the early 2000s, and they have made significant progress towards the goal of 1.5C. Embodied carbon emissions have only recently become the focus of building designers, and reductions need to be made quickly to get on track for 1.5C. In the task of reducing embodied carbon in buildings, we do not have the time frame that we had for reducing operational emissions - later is too late.

This chart from Architecture 2030 shows all the major sectors and their share of carbon emissions, and embodied carbon in buildings contributes about 10% of total GHG emissions, and when infrastructure is included, about 15% of total emissions. In order to have a reasonable chance to keep the annual global average temperature at 1.5 degrees Celsius maximum, it is important for all sectors that have carbon emissions to make reductions proportional to their emissions.

This chart shows embodied carbon emissions in buildings compared to some more well-known emissions. Data used was taken from the World Resources Institute, 2020.

Source: Architecture 2030

A final chart: The total amount of carbon emissions from buildings between now and 2050 is expected to be 50% embodied carbon and 50% operational carbon.