CONCLUSION

As information about EC proliferates among architects and clients, perception of risks and investments becomes clearer, and progress toward zero carbon, a position Cropper and others regard as imperative, can accelerate. “We’ve got to be zero carbon and drop the ‘net’ from that,” he says, recognizing that Net Zero claims bolstered by carbon offsets are no substitute for true decarbonization. Reducing EC is a necessary strategy, he finds, not a panacea but a component of action on multiple fronts: “We can’t necessarily design our way out of the climate crisis, and we can’t design our way out of having embodied carbon in buildings and in other structures. There’s a balance and synergy between making good design choices, being efficient with the material, and wider decarbonization efforts.”

Though the business axiom “what gets measured gets managed” (usually attributed to consultant Peter Drucker) is often misapplied in other domains, in the field of EC management it is fundamental, and the movement from early recognition to measurement—amid a chaotic-looking array of measurement methods—represents a form of progress. Measurement is essential to the story, yet it is not the whole story, commentators agree. The fragmentation of the construction industries and the complexity of making coherent measurements in appropriate contexts contribute to the challenges of carbon accounting. The rewards for taking on this responsibility and incorporating embodied carbon management into practice include the knowledge that a building not only meets regulatory or ratings requirements, but also contributes to a built environment that is less of a global problem and more of a solution.

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Bill Millard is a New York-based journalist who has contributed to Architectural Record, The Architect's Newspaper, Oculus, Architect, Annals of Emergency Medicine, OMA’s Content, and other publications.