3 ProjectSight White Paper
5 Pivotal Steps to Reduce Embodied Carbon on Your Next Building Project
How is our industry contributing
to Climate Change?
It's imperative to recognize the impact humans have on climate change before devising a
roadmap toward net-zero emissions. A fully decarbonized sector could eliminate nearly half of
all carbon emissions.
Where does the construction industry currently stand in meeting this goal? Between 2010 and
2018, final energy demand in buildings rose by 7%
2
. Population growth continues to prompt a large
increase in demand. And as the global population approaches 10 billion, the international building
stock is expected to double. Unless the construction industry makes significant changes, this growth
will consume vast amounts of natural resources and could contribute to an expected doubling of
the global consumption of raw materials.
Before diving any deeper, two key categories of carbon emissions must be clarified:
1. Operational Carbon
2. Embodied Carbon
The building and construction industry currently
accounts for 39% of global carbon emissions
2
.
