Embodied Carbon Evaluation in Early-Stage Design Students’ Projects as Part of a Sustainable and Resilient Curriculum

Abstract

The building industry causes 40% of global carbon emissions, out of which more than a quarter is constituted by the individual constructions’ embodied carbon. The latter figure takes into consideration not only the selection of materials, the energy needed for their production, and their renewal until the end of the building's life cycle, but also their geographic origin relative to the building's location. The scientific method used to determine this figure, the so-called Life-cycle Assessment (LCA), of new and reused constructions, occupies an important role in the way the architectural profession can address climate change. These efforts are not limited to research and practice, but include the introduction of LCA tools as part of architectural education, with the ultimate goal of establishing energy-efficiency as an intuitive component of the architect's design process. In this paper, the authors investigate the opportunities and pedagogical issues encountered over the course of a second-year undergraduate design studio, during which the life cycle assessment of embodied carbon was introduced as an integral part of the project syllabus. On the one hand, the results reveal the substantial energy-saving potential provided through the use of LCA tools, with more than 50% carbon saving potential provided through the exchange of concrete with cross-laminated timber, but on the other hand they manifest the difficulty of attracting the students’ attention for such exercises during a design studio.