Page 153 - GreenRE_Sustainable Real Estate Book

MANAGING EMBODIED CARBON IN CONSTRUCTION:
Industry Guidelines and Strategies

By: Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM)
The Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM), a Raw material supply BEYOND THE LIFECYCLE
research institute under the Construction Industry Development Transport Carbon emission of emissions saving incurred due to reuse or recycling of
Board Malaysia (CIDB) and the School of Civil Engineering at Manufacturing materials or emissions avoided due to exporting renewable energy or using
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam, has embarked on waste as a fuel source for another process.
a project to develop an inventory of embodied carbon data for Transport EMBODIED CARBON
construction materials. This initiative serves as a guideline for Construction Carbon emission associated with materials and construction processes
the construction industry in Malaysia, supporting sustainable Disposal throughout the whole lifecycle of a building or infrastructure.
development efforts. Processing UPFRONT CARBON
The primary objective of this project is to provide the Transport The emission caused in the materials production and construction phases of
construction industry with reliable inventory data for embodied Deconstruction the lifecycle before the building or infrastructure begins to be used.
carbon in construction materials. This data will serve as a Replacement END OF LIFE CARBON
reference point, enabling industry stakeholders to make Refurbishment The carbon emitted during demolition or deconstruction and processing of
informed decisions and adopt sustainable practices. Repair materials results for reuse, recycling and final disposal.
USE STAGE CARBON
This report presents the methodology and process-based Maintenance Carbon emissions associated with materials and processes required for the
approach used to develop the embodied carbon inventory Use upkeep of the built asset throughout its lifecycle.
data. The key activities undertaken in this project include the Energy use OPERATIONAL CARBON
following:
• Embodied carbon inventory data for construction materials Figure 1: Life cycle of carbon emissions
• Guideline framework for the selection of low carbon
construction materials transporting, manufacturing, disposing, and maintenance. Thus, energy). Carbon dioxide emissions are generated from
lowering our carbon emissions by investigating the entire life chemical processes used throughout the extraction,
Over the past two decades, global fears surrounding climate cycle of a structure would become an extremely critical aspect manufacture, transportation, installation, maintenance, and
change have intensified, driving the ratification of the 2015 Paris in determining a building’s total carbon footprint. demolition of structural substances. It is calculated as the total
Agreement, akin to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, bringing together carbon emitted throughout its life cycle minus the carbon
cohesive international efforts to reverse environmental decline. Carbon emissions emitted during operations.

The expression “embodied carbon” refers to the total impact Carbon emissions (particularly carbon dioxide equivalent Embodied carbon is often calculated from cradle-to-gate,
of all greenhouse gas emissions that emerged on building (CO e) or greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that correlate with cradle-to-site, cradle-to-end of construction, cradle-to-grave,
2
materials throughout the life cycle processes of extracting, energy use are referred to as embodied carbon (embodied and cradle-to-cradle. The majority of datasets on embodied

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