Published research from local institutes to international
panels are stating the importance of reducing carbon emissions to net-zero by
2050. Currently, building construction accounts for over 10% of CO2
emissions, with many of those emissions contributed from structural materials like
steel, concrete, and timber. Additionally, according to the Global Alliance for
Buildings and Construction’s 2019 Global Status Report, the global building stock
is set to double by 2050. Therefore quite the challenge is presented to
structural engineers to achieve net-zero carbon buildings to meet societal
needs by 2050. To address this challenge, the Structural Engineering
Institute’s Sustainability Committee has recently published a white paper titled:
“Achieving Net Zero Embodied Carbon in Structural Material by 2050.”
The white paper examines in detail four transition tracks
that make achieving net-zero embodied carbon in the built environment possible.
The four transition tracks are:
1) Design Improvements
2) Greening the Electrical Grid
3) Material Production Improvements
4) Carbon Offsets
These four tracks may be combined in various proportions to
reach net-zero, as shown in the table below.
The Carbon Working Group encourages structural engineers, architects,
contractors, and others who wonder how the construction industry can meet critical
carbon emission reduction targets to read this paper. It is available for free
download at the SEI Sustainability Committee’s website: https://seisustainability.org/.
