The threat climate change poses is existential, and buildings are hugely complicit—even more so than the automobile. Buildings consume 40 percent of our energy annually, and they emit nearly half of the CO2, through greenfield development, cement production, and the burning of fossil fuels. As the earth’s average temperature continues to rise, so do efforts to take steps to fight the effects of climate change. Lately those efforts are zeroing in on how to reduce CO2, in both emissions and embodied carbon.
According the study, Estimation and Minimization of Embodied Carbon of Buildings: A Review. The authors of the study warn that “without major improvements in the energy efficiency of buildings, the current surge in urbanization may lead to a doubling of GHG emissions associated with the building and construction industry in the next 20 years.”