A Simplified guide towards incentivising embodied carbon assessment: a case of high-rise residential building

Abstract

In recent decades, the increasing threat of global warming has emphasised the importance of reducing carbon emissions within construction sector due to its significant impact. Despite efforts to mitigate climate change, the construction industry faces a critical gap in effectively evaluating the carbon emissions and costing it. The major reasons could be attributed to lack of awareness of carbon performance and commitment, lack of data availability and inconsistent methodologies. Hence, this study aims to develop a simplified guide, as an extension to the typical cost estimation practice towards addressing the above concerns with respect to embodied carbon (EC). This study primarily involved a quantitative assessment of EC emission of a typical high-rise residential building in Sri Lanka. Therefore, BOQ of the selected building and additional information such as material and machinery requirements, EC co-efficient, fuel consumption and transportation distance were obtained from technical specifications, industry practiced norms and databases. Accordingly, the EC emission of the selected building was derived as 873KgCO2/m2 of GFA. Of this, 94% is due to material production stage, while remaining 6% is in transportation and construction stages. Key materials contributed include: paint, cement and reinforcement. The steps followed in deriving the above estimation is presented as a simplified guide that would promote and account the construction clients for the EC emission of their proposed building constructions. By integrating EC assessment (ECA) into the construction cost estimation process, this guide seeks to empower decision-makers to choose among carbon alternatives and aid in carbon taxation in the Sri Lankan context.