The Carbon Balance: Design for Embodied Carbon Measurement of Existing Buildings

Abstract

The balance of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions attributable to the built environment is significantly affected by the decision to either preserve an existing building or demolish it in favor of new construction, concurrently forcing a valuation of the building’s historic or cultural importance. While assessment of GHG emissions in the built environment has matured, data collection and material reporting methodologies remain highly varied. Standardization of carbon accounting measures and metrics for existing buildings could improve the ability to compare the carbon impacts and benefits of building reuse, providing increased quality, accuracy, and reliability in decision-making. This thesis seeks to align contemporary building documentation and carbon measurement tools into a single workflow, exploring a streamlined approach to assess the embodied carbon value of existing buildings and which emphasizes the importance of standardized data collection methods. A clearly defined workflow alongside standardization could improve the quality of information guiding design decisions and considerations in building reuse, offering a more sophisticated tool for carbon accounting and performance monitoring of the built environment.