The inaugural Forum on Low Carbon and Bio-based Construction (CBCB), hosted by the Centre d’expertise sur la construction commerciale en bois (Cecobois), convened at the Québec City Convention Centre in February.
Tag: Embodied carbon
Since its introduction, insulating glass units (IGUs) have provided significant reductions in operational carbon emissions from buildings—yet, they increase the embodied (upfront) carbon. This is because the amount of energy (and carbon) intensive glass...
In current construction, concrete masonry units (CMUs) are used as both structural and architectural building materials. CMUs are ideal candidates for carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration because they are porous and carbonate quickly when left...
Co-authored by ZGF Architects (ZGF), Fast+Epp, EllisDon, and Lafarge, “Concrete: A Pragmatic Approach to Lowering Embodied Carbon,” is a free and publicly available technical guide that outlines strategies to reduce concrete’s impact in construction,...
Integrating mass timber in low-rise construction
(09/08/2023)
With operating energy reductions now incentivized by Passive House Canada and zero-carbon building programs, alongside incremental improvements mandated in legislation such as theBC Energy Step Code, increased attention is being given to the embodied...
A team of students from the University of British Columbia (UBC) have built a near-zero embodied carbon building on campus using hempcrete, wood, and steel as primary materials.
Recent efforts in North America to reduce embodied carbon in concrete are similar to British solutions to eradicate cobras in colonial India. Simple solutions often create bigger problems than the complex ones they were...
The visionary concept of a carbon-absorbing building may soon be a buildable reality, based on a reductive approach to construction—rather than the typical additive one, which builds a structure first and adds to it—,...
Green Building Design Principles & Embodied Carbon
(11/16/2022)
During this presentation, we will explore the green design and construction principles behind high-performance buildings, more specifically the different product green certificates and how they connect with the various green building certification systems. This...
Wood in civic buildings
(01/14/2021)
For public projects, as for other types of buildings, new engineered mass timber products, supported by recent legislation, make wood an economic and functional choice in both rural and urban areas. Two recent B.C....
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May 2025