Reflections on embodied carbon

Manual concrete mixing (Tenglong 2015) 

Week 8's lecture on 'Embodied carbon' in buildings brought a new perspective to my understanding of carbon emissions. In daily life, when discussing how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, people are always more concerned with the efficiency of energy use on the road or inside the house rather than the carbon emissions generated by architecture before they are used. This is not unusual, as the public may be more interested in matters close to their real lives, and embodied carbon in buildings is an issue for developers to consider.

However, as a student of urban planning and sustainability, and a former civil engineering student, I know this issue deserves attention and consideration. The impact of buildings on the environment is not limited to the encroachment on natural land and the energy consumed to maintain their function. The adverse effects on sustainability starts with the materials used in the construction of buildings. For instance, concrete is a widespread building material made from cement, water and sand. Cement production requires the calcination of limestone, which releases large amounts of carbon dioxide. However, these carbon emissions are unavoidable, as concrete is widely used as an essential building material in almost all construction projects. Thus, finding lower carbon-emitting alternatives to concrete may also be a crucial prerequisite in reaching the net zero carbon emissions target. As a planner, it is also necessary to consider how to minimise the appearance of unnecessary buildings at this stage.

Moreover, this inspired me to reflect. The process of making concrete and the sustainable goal of reducing carbon emissions were both facts I already knew, but I had not yet combined and considered them to gain deeper insights. More valuable ideas could be taken from available information and applied to articles and research but ignored. It is, therefore, necessary to review what is known when acquiring new knowledge, which would facilitate the generation of new ideas.