Whole life carbon – a building case study

Author: H. J. Darby (Peter Brett Associates LLP and University of Reading), F. Kelly (Peter Brett Associates LLP), A. A. Elmualim BSc (ICIOB University of Reading)

Date published

30 November 2012

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Whole life carbon – a building case study

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Author
H. J. Darby (Peter Brett Associates LLP and University of Reading), F. Kelly (Peter Brett Associates LLP), A. A. Elmualim BSc (ICIOB University of Reading)
Date published
30 November 2012
Price

Standard: £10 + VAT
Members/Subscribers: Free

The Structural Engineer
Author

H. J. Darby (Peter Brett Associates LLP and University of Reading), F. Kelly (Peter Brett Associates LLP), A. A. Elmualim BSc (ICIOB University of Reading)

Citation

The Structural Engineer, Volume 90, Issue 12, 2012, Page(s) 7

Date published

30 November 2012

Author

H. J. Darby (Peter Brett Associates LLP and University of Reading), F. Kelly (Peter Brett Associates LLP), A. A. Elmualim BSc (ICIOB University of Reading)

Citation

The Structural Engineer, Volume 90, Issue 12, 2012, Page(s) 7

Price

Standard: £10 + VAT
Members/Subscribers: Free

There is potential to reduce both operational and embodied greenhouse gas emission from buildings. To date the focus has been on reducing the operational element, although given the urgency of carbon reductions, it may be more beneficial to consider upfront embodied carbon reductions.

This paper describes a case study on the whole life carbon cycle of a warehouse building in Swindon, UK. It examines the relationship between embodied carbon (Ec) and operational carbon (Oc), the proportions of Ec
from the structural and non-structural elements, carbon benchmarking of the structure, the value of ‘cradle to site’ or ‘cradle to grave’ assessments and the significance of the timing of emissions during the life of the building. The case study indicates that Ec was dominant for the building and that the structure was responsible for more
than half of the Ec. Weighting of future emissions appears to be an important factor to
consider. The PAS 2050 reduction factors had only a modest effect but weighting to allow for future decarbonisation of the national grid energy supply had a large effect.
This suggests that future operational carbon emissions are being overestimated compared to embodied.

Additional information

Format:
PDF
Pages:
7
Publisher:
The Institution of Structural Engineers

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Graduate Technical Issue 12

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