Phius Alliance Webinar: Embodied Carbon Calculations
In this presentation, we'll discuss how to holistically evaluate the upfront carbon emissions and ongoing electricity emissions of buildings using a new tool called the Operational Carbon/Embodied Carbon (OCEC) estimator. This spreadsheet-based tool assesses the tradeoffs between reducing operational emissions, upfront enclosure emissions, and minimizing upfront mechanical systems emissions by reducing heating and cooling loads while also mitigating risks of high GWP refrigerant leakage. Moreover, the tool allows you to project future electricity emissions under different decarbonization scenarios of the power grid. Our calculations demonstrate that the significant near-term and long-term benefits of integrating high levels of efficiency into building design should not be underestimated, even as the grid continues to decarbonize.