What is a sustainable building? There is no agreed-upon definition for sustainable buildings and terms such as ‘high-performance’, ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ are often used interchangeably. A sustainable building could be defined as a building that is designed and built to minimize the negative impacts on the environment and human health, while maintaining the comfort of its occupants.
How can I design or build a sustainable building? Sustainable buildings are designed through an integrated life-cycle oriented approach that considers the efficiency in consumption of energy, water and materials, promotes the usage of low-embodied-carbon materials, improves indoor air quality, minimizes waste, and implements renewable energy systems.
What are operational energy and operational carbon? Operational energy is the energy used in a building for heating, cooling, lighting, and powering the equipment. Operational carbon refers to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the building’s operational energy use.
What is embodied carbon? Think of embodied carbon as the carbon footprint of making and using the buildings and construction materials. More specifically, embodied carbon refers to the total greenhouse gas emissions that are released in the entire life cycle of a building or a material, from raw material extraction through demolition or eventual disposal. The greenhouse gases associated with the building’s energy use are not part of embodied carbon.
What is life cycle assessment (LCA)? LCA is a method to quantify and assess the environmental impacts of a product or building over their complete life cycle. Some of the common environmental impacts that are assessed through LCA include global warming potential, acidification potential, eutrophication potential, smog formation potential, ozone depletion potential, primary energy usage, and fossil fuel consumption.
