Carbon Evaluation – Advice for the reduction of a building’s carbon footprint

Consulting and assessing a building’s carbon footprint is an integral part of a holistic approach to sustainability and can contribute significantly to the fight against climate change. In fact, it is estimated that embodied carbon will be responsible for almost half of the total emissions of new buildings between now and 2050. The real estate, building design and construction industry is looking for concrete solutions to meet the collective targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions attributable to the built environment.

Greenwich provides an assessment of the environmental impact of a building construction during all phases of its life cycle (LCA) and the associated amount of embodied carbon that results from it, from the extraction of materials to their processing, production, distribution, installation, maintenance, decommissioning or reuse. A building’s life cycle analysis is a fundamental preliminary study to improve the building’s eco-design capabilities and optimise its structural and material impacts. These assessments are essential for identifying opportunities to reduce carbon emissions and thus mitigate climate change, as well as being instrumental in obtaining LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) or BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) environmental certifications.

The evaluation of a building’s carbon footprint reduction is divided into the following steps:

• Data collection: a wide range of data is collected on the building, including the materials used in its construction, energy consumption, energy supply sources, transport of materials, water consumption and other relevant aspects.
• Life cycle analysis: the entire life cycle of the building is analysed, including materials used, material production, construction, use, maintenance and, if relevant, demolition or recycling.
• Carbon footprint calculation: the use of specialised software or standard calculation methodologies to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions associated with each phase of the building’s life cycle. These emissions are usually expressed in terms of a ‘carbon footprint’ or carbon footprint.
• Identification of reduction opportunities: once carbon emissions have been calculated, the main emission sources are identified and ways to reduce them are sought. This may include adopting low-carbon materials, optimising the building’s energy efficiency, implementing renewable energy and other sustainable measures.

Environmental certifications

If the goal is to obtain environmental certification for the building, such as LEED or BREEAM, specific guidelines must be followed to obtain the required points.

Monitoring and improvement

It is important to monitor the building’s environmental performance over time in order to continue improving it. Greenwich also provides its clients with a comprehensive forecast of future greenhouse gas emissions, useful for planning new carbon neutrality targets, influenced by various factors such as the building’s characteristics and uses, its energy efficiency, energy sources, changes in consumption patterns and environmental policies.

Skills required

These processes often require multidisciplinary skills, from architecture, engineering and experts in sustainability and environmental consulting. Greenwich’s Green & Healthy Building Division teams work proactively with the client and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that every opportunity to reduce a building’s environmental impact is assessed and implemented while recognising and sometimes overcoming project-specific limitations.