Whole-life embodied carbon assessment and reduction strategies in UK buildings: A comprehensive analysis

Maryam Keyhani

School of Computing and Engineering

Supervisors:

Professor Ali Bahadori-Jahromi

School of Computing and Engineering

Dr Paulina Godfrey

Hilton

Embodied carbon significantly contributes to a building’s greenhouse gas emissions, necessitating the decarbonisation of the construction industry to align with national and global carbon reduction goals. Focusing on real world case studies in the UK, this research aims to comprehensively assess and mitigate Whole Life Embodied Carbon (WLEC) using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology throughout the building’s lifespan to achieve net-zero carbon structures. Unlike previous studies that often analyse only one or two stages of a building’s lifecycle, this study adopts a more comprehensive approach. It evaluates embodied carbon (EC) across modules A1-A5, B2-B4, C1-C4, and D, covering every aspect of a building’s lifecycle. The research reveals that strategic specification can lead to significant reductions in WLEC. One of the central questions addressed in this study is the extent to which strategies targeting embodied carbon reduction can contribute to overall carbon emissions reduction across the entire lifecycle. Promising results are observed with effective mitigation strategies, such as the use of low carbon concrete, displaying reductions of up to 26.58% in WLEC emissions in the educational building. Moreover, the utilization of recycled and reclaimed materials demonstrates an 8.68% reduction in WLEC. Additionally, optimal end-of-life scenarios present significant carbon savings potential, with timber materials showing the potential to achieve EC savings of up to 50.42%. Recycling metal materials like aluminium and galvanized steel also yields substantial EC savings, with reductions of 15.79% and 8.26%, respectively, making them environmentally impactful choices. Finally, the EC savings for concrete and brick materials are relatively low, at less than 6%. These findings emphasize the critical need to adopt sustainable construction practices to mitigate environmental impacts within buildings in the UK.