Bridge to 2030: Embodied Carbon and Existing Buildings

Provided by: GBA

Embodied carbon consists of all the greenhouse gas emissions associated with building construction, including those that arise from extracting, transporting, manufacturing, and installing building materials on site, as well as the operational and end-of-life emissions associated with those materials. While operational carbon and energy use reductions are critical to reducing impacts of the built environment, project teams, owners and operators must also consider the impacts of a building’s embodied carbon.

This topic has been on the minds of green building industry stakeholders for years, and while it remains abstract or mysterious to some, interest continues to grow as it becomes more tangible to more people – and as it becomes a larger portion of our buildings’ overall impacts.  In an interview about coming trends in the green building industry in early 2021, GBA member Pete Jefferson listed embodied carbon as one to watch, as the conversation has been evolving rapidly.

At this event, we will explore what embodied carbon is, how it relates to operational carbon, what it means for existing buildings, and how building operators can take advantage of retrofit opportunities to maintain low embodied carbon throughout the life of their buildings. Our speakers represent local expertise related to products and materials, sustainable building standards, building science, and operations.