Low-carbon Building - What Are Low-Carbon Buildings?

What Are Low-Carbon Buildings?

Low-carbon buildings (LCB) are buildings which are specifically engineered with GHG reduction in mind. So by definition, a LCB is a building which emits significantly less GHG than regular buildings.

There is presently no emissions threshold under which a building would qualify as a LCB. But to be genuinely “Climate Change neutral”, a LCB would have to achieve at least 80% GHG reduction compared to traditional buildings. According to the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, our emissions would have to be reduced by 80% compared to current levels in order not to exceed the Earth’s natural capacity to remove GHG from the atmosphere. By comparison, a regular building releases about 5,000 kgCO2e/m2 during its entire lifetime (though it varies a lot, depending on the project type and where it is located).