Cumulative embodied and operational emissions of retrofit in Birmingham Zero Carbon House

Abstract

The paper introduces the construction of the retrofit in the Birmingham Zero Carbon House, highlighting very low and radically low embodied carbo materials used in the build and retrofit of the original 170 years old house. The analysis of operational emissions is presented using the results from ongoing instrumental monitoring and the analysis of embodied emissions is presented using the guidelines from the Royal Institutions of Chartered Surveyors and Inventory of Carbon and Energy Database from the UK Green Building Council. The latter took into account embodied emissions from materials, construction process, maintenance, and end of life deconstruction. The starting cumulative emissions, embodied and operational, are offset year on year. Despite the negative operational emissions on day one, the total emissions will reach net zero only by 2030. Putting this pioneering building into the context of the UK and the rest of the world aiming to achieve net zero by 2050, the scale of the effort needed to be deployed across the board appears to be significant.