COP26 House – An Embodied Carbon Exemplar

From its inception, a key aim of the COP26 House project from Beyond Zero Homes, was to minimise embodied carbon emissions. Most embodied carbon emissions come from the supply chain of construction products – the extraction of raw materials, processing, transporting and manufacturing. Further embodied carbon emissions come from transporting products to site, installation, repair and replacement during use, and their end-of-life deconstruction and disposal.

To minimise embodied carbon, the architect of the COP26 House, Peter Smith from Roderick James Architects, focused on efficient use of products and choosing those with lower embodied carbon. Wherever possible, Peter used timber-based products – because they generally have lower embodied carbon.