Reducing embodied carbon can save money on construction projects
Reducing embodied carbon can often reduce project costs. The opportunity to save carbon occurs when a major renovation or new build occurs. Often, the building site already contains materials that can be used. For renovations or remodels, reusing the existing building shell and foundation is often more cost-effective than demolishing and building new. For new builds, by choosing a building design that uses less material overall, the project developer and owner can save money by procuring less of the product. For example, DCI Engineers, a nationwide engineering firm, optimized the structural layout of the Clackamas County Courthouse in Oregon to use less concrete, resulting in a savings of $235,000 and 1,360 metric tons of CO2e.
In situations where it’s not possible to save money on a project by choosing low embodied carbon options, it’s still often possible to reduce emissions at a very low cost relative to the project’s overall budget. RMI case studies demonstrate that embodied carbon in commercial buildings can be reduced by 20 to 45 percent with either no cost increase or less than 1 percent cost premium for the project.
