Building operations account for 27% of global annual carbon emissions. Within the building operations, heating systems account for the highest amount of CO2 emissions due to the combustion of fuels.
Oil and natural gas are the predominant heat source in buildings. Most places are leaning towards natural gas since it’s a lighter fuel and produces much less CO2 than oil, but it’s still not a good enough solution — not only because the combustion of gas still releases CO2 into the atmosphere, but methane is also often leaked during its production.
The next leading energy consumption in buildings is water heaters. Water heaters use oil or natural gas as fuel. Tank-less water heaters consume less energy than a system with a water tank due to the consistency in heat that the tank requires to keep the water hot. New heat pump high-efficient water heaters powered by clean electricity can reduce carbon emissions from water heating and steam.
There are two terms used when it comes to the source of the CO2, direct emissions and indirect emissions:
- Direct emissions are any emissions that are produced, owned, or sourced by the entity reporting them.
- Indirect emissions are any emissions that are produced by other entities to provide a service for your building. Unless a building is producing its own energy on site, it is producing CO2 indirectly through the energy consumption.
There are many things we can do as construction professionals and building users to reduce the operational carbon of a building: consider installing renewable energy; pay close attention to insulation and airtightness; upgrade your systems with more efficient ones; and never forget the importance of promoting occupant behavior change.
Stay tuned for next week’s topic: Architecture 2030.
