Why start with the built environment?
Construction is one of the most waste producing sectors. Beyond the sheer volume of waste generated in this sector, the materials being wasted have environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions or toxification of air and water. Given the construction industry consumes around 50% of all raw materials and it creates around 20% of the waste, it is an integral part of any circular economy roadmap and we must start to take action now.
What about climate change?
Embodied carbon is the carbon footprint of a material. While a carbon footprint can be used to express the carbon of operating a building, running a car, or operating a laptop, embodied carbon cannot. Embodied carbon would instead tell you the carbon footprint of constructing the building, producing the car, or manufacturing the laptop.
According to the UN Environmental Programme, the manufacture of building materials makes up 11% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. For comparison, transportation (road, aviation, and shipping) makes up about 16% of total global GHGs. So just the manufacturing of building materials almost equals all of transportation GHGs!