Globally, buildings may account for roughly 40% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, the largest share of any sector. Of that total, 27% stem from emissions generated by building operations. This includes the on-site combustion of fossil fuels, as well as off-site electricity generation. Most of the attention to date by policymakers has been on reducing these building operation emissions.

An often overlooked area, though, which contributes the remaining 13% of emissions, is the embodied carbon of construction and building materials. This includes the emissions that result from the extraction, manufacturing, transportation, installation and disposal of products like steel, concrete, insulation, drywall and other materials.

In the U.S., the EPA reports that homes and buildings account for more than 30% of U.S. emissions, which includes both on- and off-site sources. However, this does not account for the embodied carbon of building materials. USGBC is unaware of any public accounting from the EPA or other federal agencies to estimate the national emissions contribution from construction materials. For policymakers, this is a weakness in our understanding of buildings sector emissions and our ability to develop policies to address the climate crisis.

Read More at U.S. Green Building Council

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