What Concrete Producers Need to Know About Embodied Carbon in Construction

The green building landscape continues to evolve as government and industry interest in reducing carbon emissions grows. For concrete producers, this shift presents both a challenge and an opportunity: to help reduce embodied carbon in construction while continuing to deliver strong, durable products.

In a recent webinar, CarbonCure’s Market Development Managers Jessica Wilson, Allison Palmer, and Brandon Williams shared real-world insights on sustainable concrete and the growing role of embodied carbon reduction.

A Growing Movement in Construction Sustainability

We know that climate change is already impacting our communities and the construction industry. With rising global demand for building materials, there is a growing movement to reduce embodied carbon in construction—and with good reason.

Buildings account for nearly 40% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Between now and 2060, the world’s building stock is expected to double—the equivalent of adding one New York City every month for the next 40 years.

“Time is simply not on our side and the market is paying close attention to the built environment and producers as a major source of carbon emissions.”

Jessica Wilson LEED Green Associate, TRUE Advisor, Market Development Manager, CarbonCure Technologies

Carbon reduction policies are being enacted in addition to carbon disclosures as part of corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. Consumers are demanding transparency and investors are moving away from high risk investments as the demand for resilient infrastructure and green buildings grows rapidly.

What Is Embodied Carbon in Construction?

Embodied carbon refers to the greenhouse gas emissions generated throughout the lifecycle of construction materials—including manufacturing, transport, installation, and disposal.

By contrast, operational carbon relates to emissions from building energy use (HVAC, lighting, etc.) during the life of the building.

With embodied carbon projected to account for half of construction-related emissions by 2050, global leaders are urging the industry to act now.

Certification Systems Are Evolving Too

Global leaders and organizations, such as Architecture 2030, the Carbon Leadership Forum and the World Green Building Council, are calling on the industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and commit to net zero embodied carbon.

Green building certifications like LEED, the Living Building Challenge, and Green Globes are now awarding points or incentives for using low embodied carbon materials.

This shift opens the door for concrete producers to participate in high-performance projects—and signals that embodied carbon is becoming a key procurement and design factor.

The need and urgency to reduce embodied carbon is clear. And with the global green building materials market expected to grow over 9% in the next five years, it also presents an exciting opportunity for concrete producers.

Embodied Carbon Tools for Concrete Producers

To succeed in the low-carbon economy, concrete producers can leverage tools that help quantify and reduce their carbon impact:

Life cycle assessments (LCAs) provide a framework for measuring the environmental impact of a product or service over its lifetime, from raw material extraction (cradle) to the final disposal and recycling of waste (grave).

Environmental product declarations (EPDs) are independently verified documents based on international standards that report the environmental impact of a product. 

All EPDs include at least the first three stages of an LCA — extraction, transportation and manufacturing — and group indicators into six categories:

1. Primary Energy Demand
2. Global Warming Potential (GWP)
3. Acidification Potential
4. Eutrophication Potential
5. Ozone Depletion Potential
6. Smog Potential

Why EPDs Matter in Construction

Using EPDs as a tool during the design phase makes it easier to select materials with lower global warming potential and so to reduce embodied carbon in projects. Designers can use tools such as EC3, a free tool which brings together publicly accessible EPDs into one interactive database, to easily compare the environmental impact of materials.

“In the same way that nutritional labels report the measured nutritional facts for food products, EPDs report the measured life cycle, environmental impact of a product so designers and builders can make more informed decisions.”

Brandon Williams, Market Development Manager, CarbonCure Technologies

The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, Climate Earth, and the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) are the three main providers of concrete EPDs, which cost on average between $5,000 to $15,000 USD and are valid for three to five years.

So why should concrete producers consider developing EPDs for their products?

1. Industry and governments are driving change. For example, California and Colorado recently passed legislation requiring low-carbon and sustainable procurement. In many cases, EPDs will be used to validate these efforts.
2. Implementing EPDs demonstrates your environmental commitment to customers while also elevating your brand as a pillar of the community.
3. EPDs report on six core mandatory impact indicators, giving you a variety of ways to reduce environmental impact.
4. Implementing solutions that reduce GWP can give you a competitive advantage. For some projects, GWP can be the deciding factor, not price.

Learn more about concrete EPDs and low-carbon specs.

How Concrete Producers Can Help Reduce Concrete's Carbon Impact

1. Communicate your commitment to embodied carbon reduction early and often 

Talk to partners across the supply chain to align around embodied carbon reduction goals.

2. Promote and use performance-based specifications 

Encourage contractors and designers to move away from outdated prescriptive specs. Both the NRMCA and the Structural Engineering Institute recommend using performance-based specs instead.

3. Use multiple strategies 

Use supplementary cementitious materials, low carbon cement and recycled aggregates.

4. Submit CarbonCure wherever possible

Designers, owners and architects may not know what carbon-reducing options are available, so make sure to share with them how you can help them reduce carbon emissions on their projects.

CarbonCure’s Role in Reducing Embodied Carbon in Construction

With cement production creating 7% of the world's CO₂ emissions, CarbonCure’s technology has an important role to play in reducing embodied carbon in the built environment. Our technology has allowed producers to reduce cement content by an average of 4% without impacting any fresh or hardened properties. CarbonCure gives you the high-quality concrete you need with a reduced carbon footprint.

To learn more, watch the on-demand webinar: Embodied Carbon: What Concrete Producers Need to Know.

Want to learn more?

Visit the Embodied Carbon Hub →

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