Selection of building and finishing materials

The building sector is responsible for a major part of global carbon emissions. Despite the continuous development and installation of energy-efficient building envelopes as well as HVAC systems, the global energy consumption for building operations is still rising. Urbanization and global warming in regions with fast population growth rates are responsible for climbing consumption as well as growing floor area per capita and occupant comfort demand. Today, it is possible to design buildings that are labeled as carbon neutral, which means they can generate more energy than they actually use. However, building operation energy savings and onsite energy generation do not represent the whole picture. The embodied energy, i.e. the energy required to produce and install building components, is the other side of the coin. Some building materials such as steel, concrete and fired clay brick have a very large carbon footprint, while recycled and renewable materials have a low or sometimes even negative carbon balance.