Drewniok, M.P. orcid.org/0000-0003-1491-3401, Azevedo, J.M.C., Dunant, C.F. orcid.org/0000-0001-5176-4439 et al. (4 more authors) (Cover date: October 2023) Mapping material use and embodied carbon in UK construction. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 197. 107056. ISSN 0921-3449
Abstract
The latest available high-level top-down analysis shows that the embodied carbon of the UK construction in 2018 was 43 MtCO2e, of which 80% came from materials and on-site activities. In this paper, for the first time, we combine a detailed bottom-up model of representative residential and non-residential buildings with top-down infrastructure and other material consumption data to quantify the material use and embodied carbon in UK construction. We found that almost 100 Mt of materials were used with an embodied carbon of 25 Mt CO2e. Half of these emissions were from concrete. We found that existing top-down approaches underestimate emissions by up to 20%. We developed a benchmark for UK building typologies and explore interventions to achieve the UK's carbon reduction goals. We found that conversion from non-domestic to domestic purposes can bring 34% embodied carbon savings of the construction total, 30% by avoiding demolition, 20% by switching to the most material and carbon efficient technology options and by 10% if all new houses were multi-storey buildings. We have shown that the bottom-up approach allows identifying areas with high potential for decarbionisation. Due to the flexibility of the model, it can be successfully used in other countries and regions.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Embodied carbon; Material use; Bottom-up approach; UK construction; Material flow analysis |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Civil Engineering (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 10 Jul 2023 11:55 |
Last Modified: | 15 Jan 2025 14:28 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107056 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107056 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:201350 |