How cities can cut carbon emissions in construction

Cities can successfully cut emissions from the built environment through a raft of measures including mandates, incentives, and benchmarking tools, outlines a new report from the World Economic Forum.

The report, Reducing Embodied Carbon in Cities: Nine Solutions for Greener Buildings and Communities, lists solutions for all phases of construction and demolition that cover adopting enabling policy frameworks and regulations, reuse, implementing a city-wide circular economy strategy, and innovation.

It lists Vancouver, New York City, Los Angeles and London, among others, as cities that are leading the charge in emission-reducing solutions related to urban development projects.

“Cities are at the forefront of efforts to reduce carbon emissions in both new development and redevelopment within the built environment,” said Jennifer Holmes, Accenture’s lead for cities, transportation and infrastructure. “This initiative is focused on the increasing importance of cities establishing clear targets, incentives and pathways for emission reduction, in collaboration with the private and non-profit sectors.”

The report notes that the built environment is the single largest contributor of CO2 emissions, generating approximately 40 percent globally, the majority of which comes from urban development.

And as cities grow in population and importance, it is estimated that the global floor area is expected to double by 2060, the equivalent of building out New York City every month for the next 40 years.

“A growing number of cities have taken decisive action to help bolster the operational efficiency of buildings,” said Jeff Merritt, Head of Urban Transformation at the World Economic Forum. “From rethinking traditional construction methods and materials to breathing new life into otherwise obsolete buildings, new solutions are rapidly emerging to tackle this challenging issue, collectively referred to as embodied carbon.”

The report features case studies of cities that are developing a variety of approaches to reduce carbon emissions from construction practices. This includes:

• Vancouver enacted an embodied carbon limit on all new construction and developed a benchmarking tool to measure emissions.
• Seattle provides an expedited permitting process for projects that meet embodied carbon standards. This initiative benefits environmentally friendly construction companies by hastening construction while promoting the city’s environmental commitment.
• New York City instituted a Clean Construction Executive Order mandating all capital project agencies to lower embodied carbon from municipal construction projects.
• A programme run by San Diego’s local utility company, is helping construction companies’ fleet owners and operators eliminate emissions by transitioning to electric vehicles.
• And London’s Material Reuse Portal offers a user-friendly interface for stakeholders across the construction industry to engage in sustainable material reuse practices.

Image: Grigor Atanasov | Dreamstime.com