The State of Embodied Carbon Footprint Research in the Construction Sector in New Zealand and the Case Study of EdFab

Abstract

Due to the uncontrollable temperature increase, global warming has become a world emergency. The possibility to measure such a phenomenon, in relationship to buildings, which are the major emitters, is therefore a priority. In this context the carbon footprint can be considered an efficient indicator showing the quantities of greenhouse gas emissions during the whole life cycle of buildings, especially for embodied carbon, operating carbon, and transport carbon. The embodied carbon is particularly relevant because it can be calculated in the design phase, with the selection and help of environmentally friendly materials. However in New Zealand, since there is a lack of local embodied carbon footprint databases of materials in the construction sector, the international databases, such as GaBi database, and EPDs serve, today, as great supplements. This thesis intends to summarize the current state of the embodied carbon footprint research of building materials in New Zealand, providing information about available data sources and organizations and persons involved to support further research, as well as providing suggestions about the eco-friendly building materials used in edFab, a module of eco-digital fabrication project, through the calculation of its embodied carbon footprint. Moreover it offers an overview of the institutions, such as Scion, the University of Victoria and BRANZ, all of which are currently involved in the various research streams including the embodied carbon footprint. In conclusion the work outlines the environmental advantages of utilizing natural materials, such as plywood and cellulose, which inherently have the characteristics of carbon storage.