WHY BUILDINGS?
Eliminate all CO2 emissions from the buildings by 2040 meets the 1.5°Climate target.
CURRENT STATE
Buildings are responsible for over 35% 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 materials – cement, iron, steel and aluminum – are responsible for an additional 7.7% annually.
RAPID GROWTH
To accommodate the largest wave of building and infrastructure growth in human history, from 2020 to 2060, we expect to add about 2.6 trillion ft2 (240 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.
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.
BUILDINGS ARE A SIGNIFICANT END USE OF HIGH IMPACT MATERIALS
Embodied carbon represents the carbon emissions associated with making building 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 construction 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 project are locked in once the project is constructed and cannot be taken back or reduced.
