Abatement cost of embodied emissions of a residential building in Sweden

Journal article, 2018

In 2010, the world’s buildings accounted for approximately 19% of all greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions stem from both the construction and operation of buildings. In recent years the carbon efficiency of energy sources and energy efficiency of new buildings has been improved in Sweden. Therefore, embodied emissions accounts for an increasing share of the life cycle emissions of new buildings. This study aims to asses the cost effectiveness in abatement of embodied emissions. This was done by assessing the embodied emissions of a case building and several conventional design measures along with the implication on production cost. It was found that many of the measures enabled cost effective carbon abatement. Embodied emissions could be reduced by 15% using cost neutral or nearly cost neutral measures. Abatements up to 18% were found cost effective in relation to abatement of carbon dioxide emissions in other sectors. Abatements up to 24% were possible with minor increases in total production cost (0.22%) even though some of the individual measures were found expensive in relation to abatement of carbon dioxide emissions in other sectors. Some measures entailed increased floor area that could potentially lead to economic gain where exterior area is a limiting factor. Acoustic requirements were found to be a limiting factor in abatement of embodied emissions.