As part of the tenth yearly World Green Building Week, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) has issued a new vision of how buildings and infrastructure around the world can achieve 40% less embodied carbon emissions by 2030, and 100% net zero emissions by 2050.

Building and construction are responsible for 39% of all carbon emissions in the world. Operational emissions from energy used to heat, cool and light buildings account for the bulk of these emissions, with the balance coming from embodied carbon emissions, or ‘upfront’ carbon associated with materials and construction processes throughout the building life cycle.

WorldGBC’s vision to fully decarbonise the sector requires eliminating both operational and embodied carbon emissions.

The ‘Bringing Embodied Carbon Upfront’ report proposes this ambitious goal alongside solutions to accelerate immediate action by the entire building and construction value chain.

The vision is endorsed by representatives from developers and construction companies, financial institutions, city networks and governments, as well as industry representatives from concrete, steel and timber and many more, including HeidelbergCement, Skanska, Stora Enso, Google and the Finnish government.

The report sets out to demonstrate that it is feasible to address embodied carbon emissions by breaking down complex terminology and creating a common language to set a consensus-built definition for net zero embodied carbon.

Embodied carbon emissions have been overlooked in the past, but, as shown by research from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, achieving drastic cuts in all carbon emissions over the next decade is critical to keeping the global temperature rise to 1.5 ºC above preindustrial levels.

Addressing upfront carbon is, therefore, imperative to fighting the climate crisis, as new construction is expected to double the worlds’ building stock by 2060, resulting in an increase in the carbon emissions occurring right now, says WorldGBC.

The organisation is calling for coordinated action from across the building and construction sector to dramatically change the way buildings are designed, built, used and deconstructed.

WorldGBC presents a pathway of actions that designers, investors, manufacturers, governments, nongovernmental organisations and researchers across the value chain can take to accelerate decarbonisation, address current market barriers and develop low-carbon alternative solutions.

However, the report warns that there will be no change unless there is a radical shift in how industry works together to enable a market transformation.

The transition towards mainstream net zero carbon standards requires immediate action to achieve greater awareness; innovation; improved processes to calculate, track and report embodied carbon; voluntary reduction targets from industry; and the roll-out of new legislation at city, national and regional level.

Approaches such as maximising the use of existing assets, promoting renovation instead of demolition and seeking new circular business models that reduce reliance on carbon- intensive raw materials are also needed.

To kick-start cross-sector collaboration, WorldGBC is calling for new national and sectoral roadmaps to be developed, such as those already produced in Finland, Norway and Sweden, with strong support from industry and policymakers.

Demonstrating the feasibility of achieving zero carbon goals, the report is supported by case studies of existing best practice across the breadth of the building industry.

Businesses involved in design and delivery have already committed to ambitious individual or national decarbonisation strategies. For example, Skanska, a major development and construction group, is making strides in enabling projects to be evaluated for full life cycle impacts.

Materials suppliers are also taking a leading role. HeidelbergCement has committed to developing carbon-neutral products by 2050, and Dalmia Bharat Cement, one of India’s leading cement manufacturers, is committed to becoming a carbon negative group by 2040.

Cities have also been instrumental in pushing for innovations and approaches. Oslo, in Norway, has a commitment to fossil-free construction sites.

Vancouver, in Canada, has mandated that embodied carbon be reduced by 40% in new buildings by 2030 as part of its climate emergency response, demonstrating the type of regulatory frameworks that can drive market change.