What Colour is your Building?

Chapter 8Lower carbon materials

Look closely at the present you are constructing: it should look like the future you are dreaming.

Alice Walker, American author

In Chapter 3 the contribution of embodied carbon (ECO₂) to the whole life carbon footprint was discussed and typical values given for construction, fit-out and refurbishment of office buildings. This chapter looks at methods of reducing the embodied carbon by focusing on the components and materials that have the biggest impact. At the top of the list is concrete, which typically accounts for between 30 and 50% of the initial construction embodied carbon; however, fit-out components, ...