WHY THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT?

Eliminating all CO2 emissions from the built environment by 2040 meets the 1.5°Climate target.

CURRENT STATE

The built environment is responsible for about 42% of annual global CO2 emissions.

Of those total emissions, building operations are responsible for approximately 27% annually, while the embodied carbon of just four building and infrastructure materials – cement, iron, steel, and aluminum – are responsible for an additional 15% annually.

RAPID GROWTH

To accommodate the largest wave of building and infrastructure growth in human history, from 2020 to 2060, the world is expected to add about 2.6 trillion ft2 (241 billion m2) of new floor area to the global building stock, the equivalent of adding an entire New York City to the world, every month, for 40 years. Additionally, three-quarters of the infrastructure that will exist in 2050 has yet to be built.

Building floor space source: International Energy Agency, “Global building sector CO2 emissions and floor area on the Net Zero Scenario, 2020-2050”. 2060 floor area assumes projected trends would continue.

Infrastructure source: United Nations

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS THE PRIMARY END USE FOR HIGH IMPACT MATERIALS

Embodied carbon represents the carbon emissions associated with making building or infrastructure products and construction, from raw material extraction to manufacturing, transportation, and end of life disposal or recycling. It is anticipated that embodied carbon will be responsible for the majority of the carbon emissions associated with global new building and infrastructure between now and 2030. It is therefore crucial to address embodied emissions now to disrupt our current emissions trend, and because the embodied emissions of a building or infrastructure project are locked in once the project is constructed and cannot be taken back or reduced.

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