Carbon

Matti Kuittinen is an architect and professor of resource-efficient construction at Aalto University, Finland. As a policymaker, he has been developing whole life carbon assessment methods in Finland and the EU.Alan Organschi is a design principal and a partner at Gray Organschi Architecture, in New Haven, CT and a senior member of the design and technology faculty of the Yale School of Architecture. He currently serves as the Director of the Innovation Lab of the global initiative Bauhaus Earth in Berlin, Germany.Andrew Ruff (New Haven, CT) is the Research Coordinator of the Timber City Research Initiative, the Design Director at Gray Organschi Architecture, and a Visiting Critic at the Yale School of Architecture. He previously held appointments as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Wesleyan University and a Lecturer at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and served as part of the guest faculty at the Roger Williams School of Architecture, Art, and Historic Preservation, where he led design research into the applications of mass timber assemblies in mid-rise building applications. In addition to his professional degree in Architecture, he holds a Master of Environmental Design from the Yale School of Architecture and has lectured and published on the subject of mass timber buildings in the global carbon economy.

• Preface viiiChapter 1 Carbon? 2Our Carbon Challenge 6Building Elements 6King Carbon 7A Global Carbon Budget 9The Carbon Cycle in Building History 10Carbon Flows in Building 12Staunching the Flow 14Time Management in Carbon Mitigation 17Re-balancing the Planet: Agency and Opportunity 18About This Book: An Overview 19Chapter 2 Measuring Carbon Flows 22Life Cycle Assessment: What’s in It for Building Designers? 25The Fundamental Concepts 27The Process of Life Cycle Assessment 37The Production Stage 46The Construction Stage 53The Use Stage 61Service Life 66End-of-Life Stage 74Results, Interpretation, and Comparison 81The Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment for Buildings 83Chapter 3 Case Studies in Decarbonization 86Notes from the Field 89How Were the Calculations Per formed? 90Case Study 1 Common Ground High School 92Architectural Objectives (by Gray Organschi Architecture) 93Common Ground High School: Key Figures 100Materials 100Site and Ground Works 104Foundations and Ground Floor 106Structural Frame 108Façades and External Decks 110Roofs 112Internal Dividers 114Space Surfaces 116Internal Fixtures 118Building System Installations 120Mitigation Potential from Materials and Systems 130Energy-Related Emissions 131Case Study 2: Puukuokka Housing Block 135Architectural Objectives (by OOPEAA Office for Peripheral Architecture) 137Puukuokka One: Key Figures 142Site and Ground Works 146Foundations and Ground Floor 148Modular Units 150Hallway 152Façades 154Roofs 156Building Service Installations 158Mitigation Potential from Materials and Systems 168Energy 168Comparison of the Case Studies 172Comparison of the Emissions 176Chapter 4 De-carbonizing Design 180A Context of Externalities: Pre conditions of the Decarbonized Design Process 185The Decarbonized Design Process 188Phases of Decarbonized Building Design 190The Pre-Design or Project Preparation Phase: Laying the Groundwork for Decarbonized Building Design 190Selecting a Low-Carbon Site 192Programming a Low-Carbon Building 195Anticipating the Lifespan of a Building 196The Conceptual or Schematic Design Phase 197The Design Development Phase 201Material Classes and Their Carbon Consequences 203The Decarbonized Building Assembly 208The Later Design Phases: Contract Documentation, Bidding and Negotiation, and Construction Administration 212Principles of Decarbonized Design 213Understanding Design Agency: Shifting Roles and Responsibilities 218Chapter 5 Re-Forming the Anthropocene 220Beyond Sustainable 223Thinking Outside the Building’s Life Cycle 224Re-forming the Anthropocene 231The Anthropocene Re-formed 240Acknowledgments 243Glossary 244References 248Index 252

"This is a must-read book. It achieves the rare outcome of being a successful volume for design practitioners (who should know what to do) as well as design students (who don’t yet know what to do). But it is also very useful to educators, policymakers, engineers, local authorities, industry professionals and – really – anyone who takes seriously the sheer impacts caused by the global built environment to ecosystems, biodiversity, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, land use, urban fabric transformation, energy demand, social shifts and implications for the lives of millions who live in, or at the margins of, it."—Francesco Pomponi, Buildings & Cities"A recommendable book to get started with LCA in building construction with focus on CO2 or carbon as well as concepts for decarbonization.... The basic LCA aspects are presented in an easy to follow manner.... Also worth to mention: many specific LCA terms which are helpful in discussing with LCA experts such as cradle-to-gate, end-of-life, end-of-waste or closing the loop are addressed in easy to understand words."—nbau, NACHHALTIG BAUEN"Its explanatory tone runs like a seam through this book; copiously illustrated in black and white and on a thin, uncoated paper that intimates the authors’ awareness of its own carbon footprint. It's worth it alone just for Chapter 3, 'Case Studies in Decarbonisation'"—The RIBA Journal