A recent report published by the UN Environment Programme and Yale Center for Ecosystems and Architecture explores pathways to reduce often-overlooked embodied carbon emissions within the built environment sector. 

Embodied carbon stands as an often under-investigated source of emissions. Nonetheless, targeting these emissions can play a key role in decarbonization efforts. A recent report published by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Yale Center for Ecosystems and Architecture (CEA) outlines possible pathways to reduce embodied carbon in the built environment sector. Efforts focused on the built environment play a pivotal role in addressing climate change because the sector produces a high volume of greenhouse gas emissions. The report cites that emissions from the built environment are currently responsible for 37% of the global emissions. 

Entitled “Building Materials and the Climate: Constructing a New Future,” the project takes a three-pronged approach to reducing embodied emissions: “Avoid, Shift, and Improve.” Geared toward a broad array of practitioners ranging from architects to policy-makers, the report encourages limiting waste associated with the built environment through reducing and reusing materials; shifting away from conventional materials like cement and steel in favor of other options like sustainably-produced timber; and improving conventional materials that cannot be avoided through cleaner energy in production and efficiency improvements.

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The project featured lead authors Anna Dyson (Yale CEA), Niami Kenna (McGill University and Yale CEA), Mae-ling Lokko (Yale CEA and Willow Technologies) Christina Ciardullo (American Institute of Architects & Yale CEA), and Barbara Reck (Yale School of the Environment).

Image source: https://environment.yale.edu/news-in-brief/nib-decarbonizing-built-environment.