Impact of building elements and whole building carbon benchmarking studies

About the livestream

As per LETI the current embodied carbon benchmark for residential buildings is 1750 KgCo2e/m2 and non-residential buildings is 1700 KgCo2e/m2. The RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge Target Benchmarks Review has an ambitious target of reducing embodied carbon benchmark by almost half for residential to 850 KgCo2e/m2 and non residential to 840 KgCo2e/m2 — Source: LETI Embodied Carbon Primer. All buildings, regardless of their size, location, or purpose, have unique embodied carbon footprints. This variability is due to a multitude of factors including the materials used in construction, how much of it is being used, the energy sources powering the building, the efficiency of its design, and the behaviours of its occupants. Understanding and addressing these differences is crucial in the pursuit of reducing the overall carbon footprint of the built environment, especially if your LCA study is complimenting a real-time design effort, it is worth having a landscape view on where (building elements & life cycle stages) the biggest embodied carbons are hiding. It helps you to stay focused on the biggest opportunities available for reductions.