{"id":201,"date":"2024-05-18T14:30:10","date_gmt":"2024-05-18T14:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eliteclimatedesign.com\/store\/?p=201"},"modified":"2024-05-18T14:33:18","modified_gmt":"2024-05-18T14:33:18","slug":"operational-vs-embodied-carbon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eliteclimatedesign.com\/store\/operational-vs-embodied-carbon\/","title":{"rendered":"Operational vs Embodied Carbon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the difference between operational carbon and embodied carbon? What it is and why you should care:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Carbon vs\u2026 Carbon?\u00a0
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In the field of green building and the sustainable built environment, the term \u201ccarbon\u201d is commonly used as shorthand terminology for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, measured in units of CO2<\/sub>e or equivalent CO2<\/sub> emissions. \u201cCarbon\u201d, in this context, also includes the emissions of non-carbon greenhouse gases such as methane and \u201creports on emission reductions commonly use the word carbon when they really mean greenhouse gas,\u201d (RESNET<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you read through this blog article and future articles of this series, and engage with other professionals on the topic of carbon, it is important to remember that the term \u201ccarbon\u201d will frequently also refer to pollution factors that aren\u2019t specifically CO2<\/sub>\u00a0emissions, but also\u00a0many other chemical emissions<\/a>\u00a0which exacerbate climate change potential, such as refrigerants used in heating\/cooling systems and blowing agent chemicals used the production of certain building products like XPS insulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that\u2019s carbon, but what is operational carbon?
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As a HERS Rater, you are working to address operational carbon \u2013 GHG emissions produced through the energy use of a building. In fact, the industry has done such a great job addressing it that we have reduced operational carbon emissions from energy use in residential buildings by over 19% in the last 15 years (C2ES<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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RESNET\u2019s new Carbon Index<\/a> was developed to provide a more accurate metric of measuring operational carbon emissions, which can be easily aligned with organizational decarbonization goals. Rather than comparing apples (CO2<\/sub>e) to oranges (energy savings in dollars or kilowatt-hours), the new index<\/a> enables organizations to easily compare apples to apples and accurately assess impact or progress towards a set decarbonization goal, measured in CO2<\/sub>e. The new RESNET Carbon Rating Index has already been programed into the latest version of REM<\/a> software, and likely will be in Ekotrope<\/a> soon, so that CO2<\/sub>e and the Carbon Index can be calculated at the same time that the HERS index is calculated, with no additional input data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking it one step farther, the new\u00a0RESNET CO2<\/sub>\u00a0Rating Index Standard<\/a>\u00a0for operational carbon will blend seamlessly into future developments and offer a more wholistic look at the total GHG emissions of a building, factoring both operational and embodied carbon into design choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Embodied carbon, also commonly referred to as embodied CO2<\/sub>e and\/or Global Warming Potential (GWP), is the GHG emissions associated with materials and construction processes throughout the whole life cycle of a building or infrastructure. \u201cUnlike with operational carbon, there is no chance to decrease embodied carbon with updates in efficiency after the building is constructed,\u201d making it pertinent to address embodied carbon as we continue to construct new buildings to accommodate an ever-growing global population (Carbon Leadership Forum<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can HERS Raters help address Embodied Carbon?
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Approximately 70% of the embodied carbon of a building comes from the manufacturing of materials (Stages A1-A3). But, builders aren\u2019t the ones manufacturing the materials \u2014 they\u2019re just looking for the most bang for their buck in an insulation with a high R-value, right? For the design team, it boils down to identifying manufacturers that produce low embodied carbon materials and comparing a variety of options using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like HERS Raters are the expert resource for builders on all things energy and operational carbon, HERS Raters hold the potential to be the go-to resource for embodied carbon as well. HERS Raters already create projected energy models to help inform design decisions, and Raters already collect important data on the envelope assemblies, appliances, etc., to provide a concrete value (HERS Index score) to the outcome of those decisions. Embodied carbon fits smoothly into the scope of work for HERS professionals and further fosters the teamwork-oriented relationship between HERS Raters and builders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RESNET is\u00a0forming committees<\/a>\u00a0and working groups to develop an embodied carbon index (or similar scoring system) and ICC is working on integrating embodied carbon into ICC 2024 codes, so ECD is here to help you navigate these exciting upcoming changes in the building performance industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Definitions for next time:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n