The Routledge Handbook of Embodied Carbon in the Built Environment

SECTION 1: Introduction: The embodied carbon questions and debates

1. Introduction to this handbook - the question of embodied carbon

Rahman Azari and Alice Moncaster

2. Minimising embodied carbon: A question of politics, not percentages

Alice Moncaster

3. Climate-neutral and circular built environment - right here, right now -

Guillaume Habert

4. Net zero in buildings and construction: Use and misuse of carbon offsets

Barnardino D’Amico and Francecso Pomponi

5. Characterization of links between embodied carbon and thermal mass

Matan Mayer and Jonathan Grinham

SECTION 2: Embodied decarbonization, approaches and policies

6. Introduction to Section 2: National and international approaches to and policies for decarbonisation

Alice Moncaster and Rahman Azari

7. Embodied decarbonization in North America: A paradigm shift

Rahman Azari

8. Embodied carbon in building regulation – development and implementation in Finland, Sweden and Denmark

Freja Nygaard Rasmussen, Harpa Birgisdottir, Tove Malmqvist, Matti Kuttinen and Tarja Hakkinen

9. Global carbon budgets for the built environment: How far are we to achieve a 1.5°C limit in global warming? A Swiss example 

Y.D. Priore, G. Habert and T. Jusselme

10. The Levels framework and the Life Levels project: Developing common and national approaches to embodied carbon in European countries

11. Embodied emissions - knowledge building for industry

Aoife Houlihan Wiberg, Ben James, Alice Moncaster, Freja Nygaard, Rasmussen, Tove Malmqvist and Harpa Birgisdottir

SECTION 3: Urban scale perspectives

12. Introduction to Section 3: Embodied carbon and urban scale perspectives
Rahman Azari and Alice Moncaster

13. Approaches and system boundaries for urban carbon accounts

Klaus Hubacek, Yuli Shan and Shaoqing Chen

14. Quantifying the sunk carbon costs of cities: A case-study of 50 years of construction in Odense, Denmark

Srinivasa Raghavendra Bhuvan Gummidi, Benjamin P. Goldstein, Joshua L. Sohn, Maud Lanau, Morten Birkved, and Gang Liu

15. Embodied GHG in transportation infrastructure

Shoshanna Saxe and Bradley Kloostra

 SECTION 4: Building Scale Perspectives

16. Introduction to Section 4: Embodied carbon and building scale perspectives

Rahman Azari and Alice Moncaster

17. Life cycle assessment applied to the eco-design of urban projects in France

Bruno Peuportier and Patrick Schalbart

18. Climate and resource footprint assessment in building information modelling: A method and indicators

Husam Sameer, Clemens Mostert and Stefan Bringezu

19. Achieving social justice and environmental justice in safe affordable housing through a materials-centered, multi-level, transdisciplinary approach

Giulia Celentano, Esther Obonyo and Guillaume Habert

20. Embodied carbon and building retrofit; a heritage example

Freya Wise, Alice Moncaster and Derek Jones

SECTION 5: Material scale perspectives

21. Introduction to Section 5: Embodied carbon and material scale perspectives

Alice Moncaster and Rahman Azari 

22. Real and apparent variations in embodied carbon impacts provided in EPD for construction products

Jane Anderson and Derek Jones

23. Three windows: Accounting for embodied resources and cultural value

Lynette Widder and Christoph Meinrenken 

24. Embodied carbon in biogenic and earth materials: Accounting for the work of the biogeosphere in construction materials

William W. Braham, Miaomiao Hou, Suryakiran Prabhakaran and David Tilley

25. Farm to building: Catalyzing the use of natural, net-zero, and healthier building materials

Lola Ben-Alon

Biography

Rahman Azari, PhD., is an architect, Associate Professor of architecture, and Director of the Resource and Energy Efficiency [RE2] Lab at the Pennsylvania State University (USA). Azari is also affiliated with the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE), the Hamer Center for Community Design, and the Stuckeman Center for Design Computation (SCDC). Azari’s research on carbon-neutral buildings and cities has been supported by research grants from the US Department of Energy (DOE), the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), and the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Alice Moncaster, PhD., is a civil and structural engineer by background, whose work in industry has strongly influenced her subsequent career in academia. From July 2023 she is Professor of Sustainable Construction at the University of the West of England, and retains visiting positions at her two previous institutions, the Open University, and the University of Cambridge. She has been one of the UK experts for the International Energy Agency Annexes 57, 72, and 89 working with colleagues from around the world on developing a better understanding of embodied and whole life carbon of buildings, and on its implementation into policy and industry practice.