Living Life Cycle Assessment

Presenter

Anna Maria Biondo

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Munkaila Musah, Department of Environmental Conservation, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 1, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A43, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 3 (A41-A60) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

College campuses and the construction industry share a common obligation to reduce their carbon footprints. UMass Amherst holds the largest share of total emissions among the Commonwealth’s top emitters (1), highlighting the opportunity to unify efforts for reducing construction and campus emissions. The construction industry is responsible for nearly half of global carbon emissions (2), with successful reduction efforts for operational carbon emissions resulting from powering, heating, and cooling buildings. However, embodied carbon emissions resulting from material extraction, manufacturing, and transport are a growing concern for the industry, as these emissions are harder to reduce over the building’s lifetime. Concrete, the most widely used material on earth second only to water (3), boasts a high embodied carbon footprint given the resource-intensive production process. Carbon-conscious construction activities at UMass Amherst are constrained by the perceived risk of new technologies and variable funding sources which may or may not support the deployment of funds to these technologies. This research will produce a low-carbon concrete playbook for the University, engaging qualitative risk analysis, estimated embodied carbon savings potential, and project participant insight to produce case studies for UMass’ near 200,000 square-feet of new construction. Highlighting low carbon concrete risks and rewards to inform future design and construction professionals’ decision-making capabilities can expand the current boundaries of regional concrete environmental impact data and further define information gaps for future research. These actions may empower UMass Amherst to lead by example as a large public institution and advance the widespread adoption of low-carbon concrete.

Keywords

Climate Change, Construction, Embodied Carbon

Research Area

Environmental Science and Sustainability

SIMILAR ABSTRACTS (BY KEYWORD)