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Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Canadian Infrastructure Jamie Meil, Research Principal Introduction: Construction and Climate Change Policy Climate change mitigation and a major infrastructure initiative are the foundation of the newly elected federal government’s platform. Canada’s renewed commitment to reducing its carbon footprint by 2020 or even 2030 may be difficult to achieve if new and rehabilitated infrastructure isn’t managed for environmental sustainability. The “embodied” carbon emissions due to new construction are substantial. That is, materials matter. Fortunately, we have the tools and data in hand to bring evidence-based decision-making to infrastructure projects for a lighter carbon footprint. Total GHGs over 60 years for a typical building Over the life of a building, emissions from building operation are the largest part of its carbon footprint and need to be addressed. Operating Embodied But let’s not forget about these carbon emissions. Especially with a shorter time perspective These are the carbon emissions from operating the building – mostly fossil fuel burned for heating, cooling, lighting and ventilation. These emissions slowly accumulate over time. Reducing these emissions is recognized as important but is a long term climate change strategy. These are the carbon emissions from constructing the building – mostly due to materials manufacturing. Reducing these emissions is a near term climate change strategy with immediate benefit, yet there are no policies in place to encourage this. Source: an extensive Athena Institute LCA study of mid-rise concrete buildings (see “Life cycle assessment for sustainable design of precast concrete commercial buildings in Canada,” M. Marceau et al, 2012), which is highly conservative as it is strictly core and shell and does not include finishes, furnishings, HVAC and so forth. This is the carbon footprint for a typical new 5-storey building in Toronto. Embodied Carbon Really Adds Up For Example: Total embodied carbon footprint of annual Canadian new nonresidential construction is over 2,300,000 metric tons CO2e. That’s 487,000 cars driving for a year or equivalent to 25% of all cars purchased in 2015 by Canadians. Or about $46 million in carbon offsets @$20/tonne of CO2. Over the next 20 years, the world is projected to build 80 billion square meters of new buildings in cities worldwide, an area equal to 60% of the entire current global building stock (Architecture 2030) Calculations are based on the following sources. Average non-residential starts floor area is derived from CanaData as cited in a 2011 blog post by Alex Carrick of CMD (formerly Reed Construction Data). Average carbon footprint per square foot of construction is derived from an extensive Athena Institute LCA study of mid-rise concrete buildings (see “Life cycle assessment for sustainable design of precast concrete commercial buildings in Canada,” M. Marceau et al, 2012), which is highly conservative as it is strictly core and shell and does not include finishes, furnishings, HVAC and so forth. Car equivalencies per USEPA GHG equivalencies on-line calculator. Carbon cost calculated at $20 per metric ton, per offsetters.ca. Typical Embodied vs. Operating GWP GWP per year, typical commercial building 2,000,000 1,800,000 Embodied 1,600,000 Kg CO2e 1,400,000 Operating 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 Embodied=Operating @ 8.5 yrs 600,000 400,000 200,000 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Year 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 High Performance Design Approach GWP per year, Enermodal office building 600,000 Embodied 500,000 Operating Kg CO2e 400,000 300,000 Embodied = Operating @ 17.5 years 200,000 100,000 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Year 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Twice as efficient as the typical design • Better insulated • Employed passive design techniques Relative to our 2030 climate policy window, materials are equally important Issue: considerable legislation around operating energy use via codes. No climate policy dealing with materials use So where is the embodied carbon? Montreal suburban Condo 8 story, cast in place building 64 units - 10,000m2 gross floor area Parking garage 48 spaces Core and Shell account for 80% of the initial embodied carbon Services and fit-out accounts for 20% C/S Embodied GWP (kg CO2e) = 1,720,404 % Embodied CO2 by Assembly Roof Assembly Above Grade Walls/Partitions Concrete Floor Slabs Concrete Columns & Beams Below Grade Concrete Walls 20% of the carbon is below grade Footings Excavation & Fill 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% Strategies for Reducing Embodied Carbon • Reduce material use – eliminate some or all of the parking garage, eliminate balconies, leave concrete floors unfinished (polish) • Optimize material use – optimize spans/bay sizes for material, specify lower burden concrete – use Portland limestone cement in place of regular Portland cement, employ more SCM’s in concrete mix designs • Explore material use & operating energy trade-off – e.g., leave concrete exposed on the interior to maximize thermal mass effects • Design for deconstruction and reuse – explore using precast panels in place of CIP so panels may be recovered and reused • Plan for durability and resiliency – 500 yr. event is the new baseline • Climate adaption is the new reality Advocate the use of tools to explore “what if” scenarios during the design process ….