Representing an international collaboration between academics and architects in the United States and Europe, Carbon: A Field Manual for Designers and Builders offers professionals in the field an approach to sustainable design that embraces building science principles, life-cycle analysis, and design strategies in carbon neutral construction. The book also contains background information on carbon in construction materials and in the building design process.
A comprehensive approach to design that integrates sustainable principles and design strategies for decarbonized construction
Energy Consumption We use energy modeling to simulate use-stage energy consumption. Available modeling software offers typical use profiles and energy mixes. For this reason, we’ll focus in this section on critical points of inflection at which the building designer can potentially reduce the area of a building’s overall carbon footprint that is associated with operational energy consumption.
The building rests on a concrete slab and frostwall foundation made with concrete made from a mix in which 15% of Portland cement was substituted with fly ash. No piling or stabilization of the soil was required.
The foundation walls and slabs had the greatest impact on the carbon footprint of the foundations. Constructed from reinforced concrete, their emissions were mainly attributed to the manufacturing of cement. Foundations were not estimated to be replaced or repaired during the reference study period. Although the materials for these components of the building are rather heavy, their transportation to the building site and again away from the building site after the building has been demolished in distant future will account for only around 5% of the emissions associated with their manufacturing.
...this is a story about carbon, about it its role in forming human settlements and—as has become increasingly and unfortunately apparent—in determining the future of the only habitable planet we know.