Giesekam, J orcid.org/0000-0003-2915-1323, Barrett, J orcid.org/0000-0002-4285-6849 and Taylor, P orcid.org/0000-0001-7456-3744 (2018) Scenario analysis of embodied greenhouse gas emissions in UK construction. Proceedings of the ICE - Engineering Sustainability, 171 (4). pp. 178-190. ISSN 1478-4629
Abstract
Motivated by national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions budgets, the UK construction industry is pursuing reductions in emissions embodied in buildings and infrastructure. The current embodied GHG emissions benchmarks allow design teams to make a relative comparison between buildings and infrastructure but are not linked to sector or national GHG emissions reduction targets. This paper describes a novel model that links sector-level embodied GHG emissions estimates with project calculations. This provides a framework to consistently translate international, national and sector reduction targets into project targets. The required level of long-term GHG emissions reduction from improvements in building design and material manufacture is heavily dependent on external factors that the industry does not control, such as demand for new stock and the rate of electrical grid ‘decarbonisation’. A scenario analysis using the model suggests that, even if external factors progress along the better end of UK government projections, current practices will be insufficient to meet sector targets.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © ICE Publishing. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | buildings, structures & design; infrastructure planning; sustainability |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemical & Process Engineering (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC EP/N022645/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Aug 2016 14:41 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jun 2023 22:11 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Thomas Telford (ICE Publishing) |
Identification Number: | 10.1680/jensu.16.00020 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:103274 |
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