In certain pockets of the country, embodied carbon is a hot topic among architects, specifiers, and government entities. And concrete masonry’s environmental footprint is often a part of these conversations. So even though “decarbonization” is still just a small part (or perhaps no part) of most of our businesses today, we think it’s important for members to have awareness and knowledge to stay ahead of the trends and be prepared for what’s to come.
What Is Embodied Carbon?
For many years, when the construction industry discussed reducing a building’s carbon footprint, conversations were often centered around operational carbon—the greenhouse emissions associated with the building’s electricity, heating, and cooling. But that’s not the whole picture. A building’s true carbon footprint also encompasses its embodied carbon—the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the materials from which they are constructed. For building products this includes raw material extraction, manufacturing processes, transportation to the jobsite, and construction, as well as ongoing maintenance and end-of-life disposal. This goes beyond just building as well. All construction projects have embodied carbon, including hardscape projects.
Why Concrete Masonry & Hardscape Manufacturers Should Be Paying Attention to Carbon Conversations
In certain geographical regions of North America and in certain markets like government infrastructure—architects and owners are devoting some of their focus to reducing the embodied carbon in their projects. And while this consideration might not be the primary driving factor in material decisions, decision makers are becoming increasingly aware of the environment impacts of their decisions. Concrete product producers should be paying attention to ensure they can continue to meet customers’ needs in the future.
The good news is we’re already taking steps as an industry—and have been for years—to stay on top of this, including incorporating supplemental cementitious materials and engineering more efficient manufacturing and design approaches.
If you’re hesitant, here are a few reasons to consider paying closer attention.
- It’s Growing in Importance Around the Industry: Architects and designers have long been some of the most progressive thinkers in the construction industry. More and more of our customers will be looking at embodied carbon and the strategies necessary to reduce the footprint of the buildings they’re designing. As just one example, the Architecture 2030 Challenge now has an individual Embodied Carbon challenge to address embodied carbon emissions reductions. LEED v5, the latest version of the U.S. Green Building Council’s green building rating system, includes decarbonization as one of its three key impact areas.
It’s critical that concrete product producers be prepared to provide reliable information and solutions when their own customers decide to tackle decarbonization. - Regulations Are Increasing: Not only do a growing number of industry practitioners care about embodied carbon, so do many government bodies. Several states are exploring potential incentives or regulations. Two examples are California, which in 2023 made embodied carbon emissions control a mandatory part of its building code (learn more from AIA California), and New York state and New York City, which have initiated executive orders aimed at embodied carbon reduction.
- Not All Concrete Is the Same: Concrete is often lumped together in sustainability conversations—but not all concrete has the same carbon footprint. As discussions around decarbonization grow, it’s important that we help educate customers on the embodied carbon differences between dry-cast concrete — and the products that are made with it, such as CMU and hardscape products — from wet-cast concrete applications. On a square foot basis, concrete masonry construction has a lower embodied carbon than wet-cast systems. Also, concrete masonry and hardscape products sequester more carbon (up to 25% of our total embodied carbon) than our other concrete cousins. Concrete product producers should have their talking points ready.
- We Already Have the Tools: Staying on top of this trend doesn’t mean starting from a blank slate. Most manufacturers have already reduced the carbon footprint of their products from both a material standpoint, such as the use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) and newer types of cement (such as IL), and from increased production efficiencies and more sustainable manufacturing. New technologies and new environmental manufacturing solutions continue to come on the market. We can continue to evaluate these improvements.
CMHA has been playing an active role behind the scenes, conducting research and educating members. Most recently, we developed the first industry-average environmental product declaration for CMU in the US. We are also working on several different projects looking at the embodied carbon of assemblies (not just units), comparing concrete masonry assemblies to other competing systems, and ensuring that evaluation software and design tools appropriately represent concrete masonry and hardscape products’ attributes.
Learn More About Embodied Carbon
In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be diving deeper into embodied carbon to help you get more familiar with the terminology and background. You also can access a helpful infographic here and learn more about our sustainability efforts here. For more resources for design professionals, visit the Beauty of Block learning hub to take their embodied carbon series courses.