Styling by Zephyr + Stone. Photography by HIVISUALS
INTRODUCTION
By 2050, all CO2 emissions from fossil fuels in the built environment must be eliminated globally to allow us to stay below 2ºC warming above pre- industrial levels. 1 Traditionally, the focus in the design and construction industry has been on reducing operational carbon emissions through passive design and optimising energy efficiency. However, lowering embodied carbon is a vital step in meeting global emissions reduction targets as they occur before a building is put to use and therefore can never be recovered during the life of the building. When it comes to reducing embodied carbon, we often concentrate on the building envelope and structure. However, interior design is just as, if not more, important. The carbon footprint of a building’s interiors over the course of its life will be equal to and often greater than that of the building’s construction. 2 Interiors can change fairly frequently, thus accounting for more embodied emissions over time, but the structure and envelope are only ever built once. 3 The carbon footprint of an interior design or project includes all of the products incorporated therein. Design and construction professionals must know how to validate claims made about embodied carbon and other environmental factors in building products and materials as the industry shifts toward sustainable design and construction practices. In this whitepaper, we guide practitioners on how to cut through the greenwash to make better specification decisions that will lower the embodied carbon footprint of their next project.
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