Operational Building Footprint

ENERGY & CO2

Recorded by Sofie Pelsmakers, images by Essi Nisonen

KEY READINGS 

• Targeting Zero: Embodied and Whole Life Carbon Explained, Sturgis, RIBA

• Pelsmakers, S., The Environmental Design Pocketbook. Riba Publishing

• Energy, People Buildings: Making Sustainable Architecture Work, Kimpian, J., Hartman, H., Pelsmakers, S., RIBA Publishing

• Designing for the climate emergency, a Guide for Architecture Students, Pelsmakers, S., Donovan, E., Hoggard, A., Kozminska, U., RIBA

• What Colour is your building?, Clark, RIBA

INSPIRATIONAL BUILT EXAMPLES

• Transsolar – Tower Building C10, Hochschule Darmstadt, Germany

• Solaris by Hamzah & yeang

• Snohetta, Powerhouse Telemark, Norway

OPERATIONAL BUILDING FOOTPRINT

The building's carbon footprint is the total carbon emissions emitted over its lifetime and can be reduced by creating a carbon handprint. The carbon footprint includes emissions from energy use (operational carbon) and materials (embodied carbon); this talk focuses on operational carbon. When a handprint and footprint are equal, your project is carbon neutral. If the handprint surpasses the footprint, it becomes climate positive, going beyond neutrality to reduce past damage (i.e. restorative action). As a student (and architect in practice) you can use simplified operational carbon estimation rules of thumb like those in this talk to understand the carbon impact of the energy needs. Make sure you use country-specific and up to date benchmarks and carbon intensity factors for different fuels. Understanding the carbon implications of your design and the aimed for standards is crucial part of climate emergency design, as it enables you to refine your work and aim higher. This then allows you to review whether the energy needs can be reduced further through, for example passive resilience measures, such as increased airtightness and insulation, good daylight, solar (shading) design, purge ventilation etc. But also ensure that you understand user needs, design user friendly systems, and if a real project to check that systems work as intended to ensure carbon emissions are reduced in reality and as expected (create a democratic design plan and Performance Risk Plan).