In a report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2018 report), Global Warming of 1.5ºC presented a picture of the dramatically different world we will inhabit if global average temperatures rise by 2ºC compared to a 1.5ºC scenario. The catastrophic breakdown of climate associated with the difference between these two scenarios is likely to result in entire ecosystems being destroyed. This situation calls for urgent action to radically transform current unsustainable models of consumption. Whether this is true or not is up for discussion but we can all agree that there are some changes happening in our environment.
One of the immediate actions taken by environmental agencies is focused on reducing the carbon emissions from building construction, which is responsible for 39% of global energy-related carbon emissions, 28% from operational emissions from the energy needed to heat, cool, and power them, and the remaining 11% from materials and construction. In addition, environmental agencies are pushing the overall construction industry to reduce, control and report carbon emissions in an effort to decarbonize the sector in one of the most cost-effective ways to mitigate the worst effects of climate breakdown.
To support this action the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is proposing rule changes that would require public companies to include certain climate-related disclosures in their registration statements and periodic reports, including information about climate-related risks that are reasonably likely to have a material impact on their business, results of operations, or financial condition, and certain climate-related financial statement metrics in a note to a publicly traded company's audited financial statements. The required information about climate-related risks also would include disclosure of a registrant’s greenhouse gas emissions, which has become a commonly used metric to assess a registrant’s exposure to such risks.
The proposed rules also would require a registrant to disclose information about its direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Scope 1) and indirect emissions from purchased electricity or other forms of energy (Scope 2). In addition, a registrant would be required to disclose GHG emissions from upstream and downstream activities in its value chain (Scope 3) - if the material or if the registrant has set a GHG emissions target or goal that includes Scope 3 emissions.
To avoid greenwashing, sustainability reporting goes hand-in-hand with a need for increased data granularity and accuracy. The time for companies to prepare for the mandatory reporting of Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions is now.
There are two key categories of carbon emissions:
- Operational Carbon: describes the emissions that result from keeping the installation operational. Companies continue investing in carbon capture and other activities related to their emissions.
- Embodied Carbon: is the carbon emission resulting from the construction of the installation. This is where the construction industry needs to prioritize its efforts. That means that carbon emissions are released not only during operational life but also during the manufacturing, transportation, construction, and end-of-life phases of all built assets and infrastructure.
The impacts of embodied carbon and how to measure the emissions during construction are less understood. There is not a clear baseline or target to meet during the construction activities. Figure No 1 below shows the main activities associated with embodied carbon.
Figure 1: Sources of Embodied Carbon (from World Green Building Council)
As shown in the figure above, Carbon emissions associated with materials and construction processes start with the sources of the material used during construction (raw material ( A1), transport to manufacturer (A2), manufacturing (A3), transport to the site (A4), construction and installation process (A5), use (B1) maintenance (B2), repair (B3), replacement (B4), refurbishment (B5), demolition (C1), transport to end of life facilities (C2), waste processing (C3) and, disposal (C4)) and, finish at the end of the installation life.
Therefore, the control of the embodied carbon is not only during construction per se, but it should also be initiated at the beginning of the project, in the early phases. The reduction of carbon emission is not only for buildings and infrastructure but also for the entire construction industry. The disclosed information required by the SEC includes all types of public companies: oil and gas, petrochemical, chemical, and manufacturing in general, including emissions from the supply chain. Opportunities for reducing or eliminating embodied carbon are equally varied and will differ between types of projects as well as by region. In general, the greatest savings can usually be realized at the earliest stages of a project. This is the same principle of standard project planning. As a project progresses, it becomes more challenging and more costly to make design changes in order to reduce embodied carbon.
Figure 2: Opportunities to reduce embodied carbon from early project phase to construction (Pathfinder, LLC)
There are many embodied carbon footprint calculators and tools to measure emissions during construction. They help highlight where you can make big carbon savings on specific construction projects. They can also be used to help calculate your organization’s overall carbon footprint from construction and identify ways of reducing it.
The World Green Building Council has provided an in-depth report on how the construction industry can reduce its embodied carbon footprint. Five (5) of these key steps are summarized below:
- Measure Embodied Carbon Emissions
Across the industry, contractors and owners need to start to measure what their embodied carbon emissions are across the entire construction lifecycle. - Establish a Baseline
Once they understand the scope of their emissions, they can use this as a baseline to establish reduction targets. The current contributions and reduction targets must be available to the public to ensure they are held accountable. - Adopt Best Practices
The construction industry will need to take actionable steps toward reduction targets. For contractors that will mean disclosure of supply chain data and material selection based on the lowest embodied carbon impacts. This will require further adoption of Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) from material manufacturers to be used in the selection process. - Design With a Low Carbon Approach in Mind
Designers must take a fully integrated Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to all design decisions. This approach considers not only a low carbon approach to designing but also other aspects of the project’s performance such as material, water, and energy needs across the entire lifecycle. - Lead by Example
Asset owners will need to lead by example in requiring all projects to be net zero embodied carbon. This will require changing how they approach suppliers and partner selection and even funding projects to put the environmental impact at the forefront.
Construction contractors act as a source of quality control to help drive owner and designer decisions towards carbon neutral and reduction outcomes. Some of the actions that they are taking are:
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- Sourcing local materials to reduce transportation emissions
- Maximizing the efficient planning of construction equipment across projects. Efficient equipment uses less power and generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
- Sourcing process units and equipment that operate on carbon-neutral biofuels or renewable energy
- Consider installing renewable energy on-site to be used for the construction phase and then also to be transitioned to the operational stage.
- Recycle and reuse material during renovation and demolition wherever possible
- Minimize material waste.
In summary, activity in the construction sector is one of the energy users and contributors to the world's carbon emissions. Efforts to reduce carbon emissions are very important to mitigate the impact of global warming, The carbon emission reduction measures in construction should start in the early phases of the project where the project sponsor can determine the appropriate supply chain and construction activities to employ. However, effective measurement program development is much more crucial to deciding and implementing the strategy to determine appropriate metrics and goals. Let’s decide now what should be measured, controlled, and reported and how this should be accomplished.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Maria Lizardo
Maria is a Vice President with Pathfinder, LLC and has over 40 years of experience in the Oil & Gas Industry.
mlizardo@pathfinderinc.com
856-424-7100 x137
