Guide to bio-based and circular buildings out now in multiple languages
The handbook helping cities reduce carbon emissions in buildings, created by Climate KIC and partners, is now available in Spanish and Italian.
By 2050, more than two-thirds of the world population will live in urban areas and demand for urban housing and public spaces will continue to rise. Currently, buildings account for a whopping 39% of global carbon emissions. This puts cities in the complex situation of meeting the demands of rising population, while reducing the emissions of the buildings they live in.
In Europe, embodied carbon – that is, the carbon that is emitted in the production of a building – already accounts for about half of carbon emissions a new building will emit in its lifetime. In countries with relatively clean energy systems, such as Sweden, this can already today exceed the emissions it takes to run a building (operational carbon, including emissions from heating, cooling, electricity, etc).
Circular practices and using bio-based materials (such as timber) are two key strategies to dramatically lower embodied carbon in construction. Not only that, but they also offer other benefits for the health and wellbeing of both residents and construction workers.
Our Handbook and how to use it
Bio-based and Circular Buildings for Healthy, Clean Cities: A Handbook to help cities reduce embodied carbon in construction is an interactive manual and tracking instrument to support cities to tackle these issues.
The Handbook contains resources and a step-by-step guide that help to align efforts of local stakeholders around reducing embodied carbon emissions in buildings, understand and explore circular practices, and influence change in the supply chain towards bio-based materials such as timber.
The Handbook is meant for all actors in the value chain to:
- Understand metrics used by different actors and use them to create benchmarks, as well as tracking and evaluating their development over time,
- Visualise processes and understand how they need to evolve to lead to different outcomes,
- Create models for collaborative decision-making.
The guide was developed by Climate KIC and thirteen partners as part of the project Healthy, Clean Cities – EUropean CIties for climate-Neutral COnstruction (EU CINCO) to share the lessons learnt in Madrid and Milan. Anyone can download a copy and fill it out individually. There is space for notes and instructions for editing, adding and (re)designing activities to tailor the Handbook to specific cities/projects.
Until now, the handbook has only been available in English. It is now available in Spanish and Italian.
Download now!
Climate KIC is a European knowledge and innovation community, working to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon economy.