Digital Construction Hub
  • Home
  • Digital Construction
    • Strategy & Planning
    • Design
    • Construction
    • Offsite
    • O&M
  • Events
    • CTF UAE
    • CTF Saudi Arabia
    • CTF Awards
  • Webinars
  • About Us
  • Login
  • Join The Community
No Result
View All Result
Digital Construction Hub
  • Home
  • Digital Construction
    • Strategy & Planning
    • Design
    • Construction
    • Offsite
    • O&M
  • Events
    • CTF UAE
    • CTF Saudi Arabia
    • CTF Awards
  • Webinars
  • About Us
  • Login
  • Join The Community
No Result
View All Result
Digital Construction Hub
No Result
View All Result
Home Digital Construction Construction

Easy wins to reduce embodied carbon

July 19, 2022
in Construction, Digital Construction
Iman Abi Saab
Share on TwitterShare on Facebook

For a new building that is fully compliant with building codes, half of its carbon emissions are likely to be from embodied carbon. Today, about 40% of global energy rated emissions are due to buildings and construction, making the embodied element about 20%.

As populations rise and the trend of people moving to cities and major urban areas continues, it is estimated that around 230 billion square metres of new construction is required, highlighting the need to tackle embodied carbon.

“Fast reductions are required,” said Iman Abi Saab, Technical Director, Middle East Technical Excellence Leader, Mott MacDonald.

More than half of the embodied carbon for buildings is emitted in the early stages of a structures’ lifecycle – during the mining, manufacture and transport of raw materials or the construction process itself.

Whilst a lot of focus is being put into the early stages, more also needs to go into the decommissioning of a building and for recycling of materials, Saab said. This is “fundamental” for the circular economy and moving towards net zero, she said.

Ways to reduce embodied carbon include reuse of existing materials, reducing materials quantities, and becoming better at calculating carbon emissions and setting benchmarks. “Setting carbon metrics is as important as setting our energy performance metrics,” explained Saab.

During construction, carbon emissions can be further reduced by addressing location and using new methods of construction such as off-site manufacture and automation, as well as minimising waste. During use, retrofits can significantly cut energy use and improve efficiency within a building. At end-of-life, decommissioning and demolition needs to better reuse or recycle the major elements of a building.

Below is the audience Q&A session with all speakers from the Measuring & reducing carbon in construction track during the Construction Technology Festival. Speakers included:

  • Iman Abi Saab, Technical Director, Middle East Technical Excellence Leader, Mott MacDonald
  • Matthew Anthony, Asset Advisory Lead, AECOM – The importance of benchmarks for measuring embodied carbon
  • Lindsey Malcolm, Associate Director, Sustainability, AESG – Real application and impact of carbon calculators
  • José Francisco García, Senior Project Director, ACCIONA – Case study: Circular construction in a desalination plant
  • Pierre Piniau, General Manager, Milwaukee Tool MEA – Reducing onsite emissions: A cost-benefit analysis of implementing electric machinery
Tags: Construction MaterialsCTF2022Embodied carbonSustainability
Previous Post

Reducing onsite emissions: A cost-benefit analysis of implementing electric machinery

Next Post

Retrofit case study: Reducing the energy footprint of an industrial building

Robert Jones

Robert Jones

Related Posts

CTF 2022
Construction

Assuring data integrity in construction decision making

August 04, 2022
Omar Mourad
Construction

Robotic Process Automation application for construction operations

August 04, 2022
Sam Stacey
Construction

Transforming a nation’s construction sector

August 04, 2022
Next Post
Rachid Hamida

Retrofit case study: Reducing the energy footprint of an industrial building

No Result
View All Result

Partner Intel Feed

  • Design it. Build it. Autodesk
  • Bentley. Advancing Infrastructure
  • How easy-to-use single platform technology will spark the future of smarter construction
  • Transforming the global labour market
  • Accelerating Digital Transformation Journey
  • Connect project teams, empower decision makers, and synchronize across your supply chain
  • Leading the cultural shift
  • Connecting People. Empowering Businesses
Currently Playing

Digital Construction Hub

Digital Construction Hub

00:01:19

Construction Technology Awards 2022 - Judges

00:02:22

Construction Technology Awards - What makes a good entry?

00:03:25

Digital Site Capture and Remote Supervision Q&A - Construction Technology Festival KSA 2021

00:19:40

Success Stories in Digital Transformation - Your questions answered - CTF KSA 2021

00:17:13

Digital Twin Adoption - Your questions answered - CTF KSA 2021

00:11:50

Construction Technology Awards 2021

00:03:32

Construction Technology Awards - Leaders

00:03:35

How to overcome business disruption

00:04:17

Digitalising the construction industry in the world of Covid-19

00:02:06

BROWSE BY CATEGORY

3D Printing Artificial Intelligence Asset Information Models Asset Management Augmented Reality Autonomous vehicles BIM blockchain Building operations Case Study Cloud Construction Materials Construction Technology Awards Covid-19 CTF 2021 CTF2022 CTF 2022 CTF KSA CTF Online Data Digitalisation Digital transformation Digital Twins Drones Embodied carbon ERP Gamification Interview IoT ISO19650 Laser scanning Machine Learning Metaverse Modular Property technology PTF 2022 Retrofit Robotics Security Smart Cities Strategy Sustainability Virtual Reality Webinar Workplace safety
    Digital Construction Hub

    © 2020 DC HUB

    Navigate Site

    • Home
    • Digital Construction
    • Webinars
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Login

    Follow Us

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • Digital Construction
      • Strategy & Planning
      • Design
      • Construction
      • Offsite
      • O&M
    • Events
      • CTF UAE
      • CTF Saudi Arabia
      • CTF Awards
    • Webinars
    • About Us
    • Login
    • Join The Community