Hidden in Plain Sight: The Unseen Carbon Cost of Design & Construction By considering the entire life cycle of a structure, material or system, our buildings become smarter tools for making a positive impact on our clients as well as the environment. BY ZACH CLEGG, CRSA Carbon is a well-known and researched contributor to our current climate, health, and sustainability challenges. Fully understanding its impact, however, is complicated. It takes looking into the entire lifespan of a product (or building) – from start to finish – to truly comprehend carbon’s effect. Take a typical white T-shirt, for example. A shopper might narrow their choice to two options: one made of 100% traditional cotton and the other an ecofriendlier blend of cotton and recycled material. Despite a larger price tag, the shopper purchases the eco-friendly option – a small environmental victory with a simple purchase. The truth of this sale, however, is much more layered. Possibly, the “eco-friendly” shirt’s sustainability ends in its marketing and material. Maybe this T-shirt’s lifespan started in a fossil-fueled textile plant on the other side of the world and shipped for days just to get on the rack. Conversely, the 100% cotton option may have been manufactured in a renewablefueled textile plant much closer to home. In other words, not all materials, products, and services are created equal. The same is true in the architectural world, yet with larger consequences. There are two fundamental parts of the carbon issue – operational carbon and embodied carbon. Operational carbon is the carbon needed to sustain a building after completion. Renewable energy sources, products with higher thermal properties, and more efficient electrical and HVAC systems are all important solutions to operational carbon. They have come a long way, yet they only address half of the problem. Embodied carbon refers to the “greenhouse gas emissions that arise from the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of building materials,” according to the Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF). This kind of carbon is often overlooked because it’s less apparent, but it’s projected that from now until 2050, more than half of all construction-related emissions will be in the form of embodied carbon. Analyzing a building’s entire life cycle is critical in calculating both its operational and embodied carbon impact. Life Cycle Assessment (also known as Life Cycle Analysis, LCA, Cradle-to-Grave Analysis, or Eco-Balance) is a tool to document and predict both. For architects, “life cycle assessment (LCA) is one of the best mechanisms for allowing architects and other building professionals to understand the energy use and other environmental impacts associated with all phases of a building’s life cycle: procurement, construction, operation, and decommissioning.” Below is a breakdown of the Life Cycle Assessment process and what we, as designers, can do to reduce both operational and embodied carbon at each phase. Procuring Raw Materials It all starts in the “cradle” – with the extraction of raw materials from the 30 REFLEXION | 2022-23 | AIA Utah
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