Boris Gamazaychikov, Carbon Engineer and Senior Sustainability Project Manager at Stok began the first presentation ‘Addressing Embodied Carbon’ by reminding viewers that global building stock is expected to double in area by 2060, equating to an entire New York City being built every 35 days for the next 35 years.

Addressing Embodied Carbon – Boris Gamazaychikov

39% of global Greenhouse Gas Emissions come from the building sector – 11% of these emissions are embodied carbon, while 28% are operational carbon. So, Net Zero Carbon buildings, which have zero consumption during their operational phase, therefore reduce their overall environmental impact to 11%.

Gamazaychikov went on to say that 88% of the total embodied carbon of a building throughout its entire lifecycle is generated in the early Cradle-to-Gate stages – that is, the processes of material extraction, transport to factory, and manufacture. In this respect, the highest impact materials are concrete, steel and paint.

Holistic Embodied Carbon Reduction strategies are therefore essential to minimising the negative impact of construction. These include using mass timber sourced from sustainably managed forests (FSC); specifying more durable products; reusing existing structures and reducing the amount of structure required. All sector professionals have a role to play in making this happen including architects, structural engineers, contractors, manufacturers, and policy makers.

The Uptake of Secondary Raw Materials from Manufacturing into the Construction Sector

Oliver Bonstein, Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP) Facilitator at GreenCape, then discussed ‘The Uptake of Secondary Raw Materials from Manufacturing into the Construction Sector’. He advised that the building industry is one of the largest sources and sinks for waste (secondary raw materials). WISP has worked with manufacturers and construction companies to stimulate demand for previously unwanted materials – which include builders’ rubble that led to the uptake of 18,000 tonnes of unassigned rubble for roads bases, foundations and crushed aggregate.

‘The Uptake of Secondary Raw Materials from Manufacturing into the Construction Sector – Oliver Bonstein

Ash from coal boilers has become a feasible additive to various cement or clay mixtures and, to date, WISP has facilitated the uptake of more than 10,000 tpa of ash waste into brick making applications. Other materials that have been recycled back into the industry through synergies enabled by WISP include gypsum, textiles, wood, glass waste and polystyrene.

GreenCape also sought to assist manufacturers and builders to reduce their water consumption and to find alternatives to potable water during the serious regional drought experienced in the Cape (2017-2018), when the uptake of treated effluent and untreated ground water was identified as a viable solution.

Finally, Bonstein introduced DigiYard, an app idea by Arup that aims to reduces material losses and preserve the value of materials by enabling a reuse market to repurpose usable construction waste.

Tools to Decarbonize Global Construction

The closing presentation was given by Aditi Chitnis, LCA & EPD Business Development at One Click LCA in Finland, who presented ‘Tools to Decarbonize Global Construction’. This looked at how to calculate the embodied energy of a building and what tools are available. Chitnis opened with the statement that most emissions are determined during the early stage of planning, and that decisions in projects determine a building’s emissions for many years to come. The Embodied Carbon Pyramid gives an idea of the order in which project leaders should start making these decisions.

Tools to Decarbonize Global Construction – Aditi Chitnis

One Click LCA is an easy automated lifecycle assessment software that helps professional consultants to calculate and reduce the environmental impacts of buildings and infrastructure projects, products and portfolios. The platform enables specifiers to find materials easily and clarify material quantities, and to access material carbon benchmarks with data from all manufacturers globally. Chitnis concluded by presenting a smallscale case study of the Bionova office renovation in a 19,000sqm industrial building in Helsinki.

This free ‘Embodied Carbon of Materials’ webinar is CPD-validated by SACAP and ECSA and is available online: https://www.greened.co.za/courses/embodied-carbon-of-materials/

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As Solid Green celebrates its 10^th Birthday this year, Marloes opened her talk by reflecting back on how far the green building sector has come in the last decade, with the GBCSA having significantly expanded its portfolio of certification tools, and having certified 550 buildings to date.

“Following the initial years of the green building movement in South Africa, it became apparent that there was a huge need for operational guidelines on going green, as our existing building stock is much larger than our new building stock,” she observed.

This was addressed with the Existing Building Performance (EBP) tool. The number of existing buildings certified has quickly increased, because some developers have had their portfolios certified in batches of 30 at the time.

The EBP tool doesn’t only apply to buildings under renovation. It focusses on the operation and maintenance of any existing building. After the COVID-19 pandemic, I believe that this will definitely form a large part of industry activity, as we have realised that we do not need MORE office space but rather better-organised space planning. Indoor Air Quality is also becoming more important – and that is also covered by the EBP tool. I also think that the Green Star Interiors tool will receive more attention, as there will be a larger focus on Health & Wellbeing in tenanted spaces.

Another factor that has positively influenced the sector is the understanding that green buildings do not have to cost more. According to research conducted by the University of Pretoria in collaboration with the GBCSA and Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS), the cost premium on going green has diminished progressively over the last few years, and Green Star buildings can now be delivered for a premium of only 1%.

According to the GBCSA article, ‘Certified green offices hold value in tough rental market’, the latest MSCI South Africa Green Annual Property Index reinforced the benefits of green buildings for developers: “Certified green buildings showed a 34% higher capital value per square metre, more resilient capital growth and a higher net operating income per square metre compared to non-certified office buildings.” This means that the sector’s early adopters can finally see the benefits of their investments made real.

The GBCSA’s launch of its Net Zero Tools in Carbon, Water, Waste and Ecology has been a major advancement for the sector. “We have the perfect climate to generate Net Zero Carbon buildings,” Marloes comments. “I really believe that we need to fundamentally change our design thinking to align our designs with our climate. This will enable us to generate zero energy buildings without breaking the bank.

Image credit World Green Building Council.

“Over the years, I have learned that crises are often necessary to change people’s mindset and behaviour. We needed Eskom to deny us electricity and implement loadshedding to increase interest in energy security. We needed Cape Town to run dry to increase people’s awareness of how precious water is, and to realise how efficient we can be with water.

“And the most recent crisis – the Covid-19 pandemic – has forced us to rethink a larger diversity of office space types in future and whether office expansions are necessary at all.”

This new paradigm has made working from home more acceptable; and has significantly reduced the amount of time spent on commuting. Importantly, while there was already a growing emphasis on Health & Wellbeing in the green building industry, the pandemic has been a catalyst to really emphasise these issues. These crises have resulted in sustainability being high on the agendas of government and corporates.

Marloes feels that we should be making bigger strides to tackle building sustainability, and that climate change and global warming should receive the same urgent attention as the pandemic. She suggests the following actions in advancing these goals:

• Education – integrating a locally appropriate Green Building curriculum into university programmes; and expanding accessible education for building professionals, clients and the broader public through initiatives like GreenED.
• Challenging Targets – with a view to creating regenerative buildings and urban environments that are ‘socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative’, as per the Living Building Challenge goals.
• Unlocking the Sun – in a country with an abundance of sunlight, ‘energy budgets’ should be created for each project, driven by the available solar power in order to maximise energy efficiency. The recent announcement by government giving municipalities the go ahead to directly purchase energy from Independent Power Producers is a major step in the right direction.
• Integrated Design – green measures must become an integrated part of the design and construction process. Integrated design prioritises cost effectiveness over a building’s lifecycle, and engages all project team members in identifying useful interrelationships between systems.
• Finance – this involves firstly changing the perception that green buildings are expensive; secondly, applying lifecycle analysis; thirdly, developing innovative financing structures; and fourthly, incentivising professionals to design the most efficient high-performance buildings.
• Embodied Carbon – this is the amount of carbon released by the sourcing, manufacture and transport of building materials, and is rapidly gaining relevance globally with building certification tools and material calculators to calculate embodied energy becoming more advanced.

Image credit Skanska AB.

“We should not wait until climate change hits home hard before we act,” Marloes concludes.

We need to treat climate change as a crisis NOW so that it gets the attention and treatment it deserves. We need to challenge our vision and start setting more challenging targets for our buildings if we want to make a meaningful impact that ensures a sustainable world for future generations.

The post Next Level Green: Sustainability Leapfrogging appeared first on Solid Green Consulting.

In her presentation, Gardner explained the measures that should be put in place to achieve Net Zero – through both operational carbon and embodied carbon.

We envision a world of carbon-positive buildings with carbon-positive products that actively reverse the effects of climate change and help local economies thrive.

Strategies for reducing Operational Carbon are reducing site energy consumption and eliminating new combustion (in new buildings); and offsetting with installed or procured renewable energy. Strategies put forward for reducing Embodied Carbon are reducing carbon in primary materials; disclosing reduction strategies and the total embodied carbon of materials; and offsetting sequestering materials or carbon offsets.

Case studies discussed were the Catalyst Project in Spokane, an institutional and laboratory pilot project; 6 Pancras Square in London, a commercial office fit-out; and 303 Battery Street in Seattle, a multifamily residential and retail development.

‘Sustainability Leapfrogging: Net Zero Energy Buildings’, presented by Chilufya Lombe, looked at the Energy Efficiency Gap – that is, the difference between what a building uses and what it is able to generate. Lombe emphasised that attaining Net Zero Carbon involves a process driven approach – setting targets; investigating climate; reducing loads; selecting appropriate technology; optimising building operation; and, finally, considering alternative power and synergies.

Chilu discussed two precedents: 78 Corlett Drive, developed by Legaro Properties, which has received to date Green Star Design and As-Built Office v1.1 certifications, as well as Net Zero Pilot Design and As-Built certifications; and the Rugby Road residential development in Oranjezicht, Cape Town.

‘Getting to Zero’, presented by Francois Retief, identified the following factors for success in targeting Net Positive:

• Efficiency First – Aiming for a Target
• Thermal Comfort is Critical
• Building Simulations (energy modelling, artificial lighting quality, daylighting & glare, solar performance, thermal comfort)
• Passive Strategies
• Active Strategies
• Renewable Energy

Retief then discussed how people and relationships are critical to success in driving sector-leading initiatives, which are underpinned by developing the right culture and mindset; collaborating and iterating; actively pursuing a target; hiring the right team; prioritising commissioning; and educating the building/precinct occupants.

Next event

Join the Living Future Collaborative South Africa for a webinar on how to design our built environment for Net Positive Water!

Date: 19 November

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/net-positive-water-buildings-tickets-127831123331

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