We’re building a New York-sized city every month. That’s worrying for our climate
A new study reveals what unsustainable construction practices are costing our climate – and what must change.
Each month, the world constructs a city as large as New York, leading to growing concerns about the climate impact of this rapid construction. This urban expansion provides essential infrastructure but also generates substantial greenhouse gas emissions. Our research delves into how to balance the need for new buildings and our planet's wellbeing.
The demand for new buildings is evident, with Australia aiming to construct 1.2 million well-located homes between 2024 and 2029, a number that is minuscule compared to the 96,000 new and affordable homes needed daily globally. Homelessness is a harsh reality for hundreds of millions, with one in four individuals living in harmful conditions. However, the construction process has a significant climate cost, with greenhouse gas emissions – known as "embodied carbon" – released during the building process.
Our study focused on office buildings in Australia, which are set to construct an additional 100 million square metres of office space by 2049, augmenting the current total of 170 million square metres. By modeling these buildings' greenhouse gas emissions, we discovered that Australian office buildings are projected to generate 138 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions between 2024 and 2049, equivalent to the annual emissions of 36 coal-fired power stations.
Operating emissions from everyday heating, lighting, cooling, and appliances comprise 85% of the total in 2024 but are expected to decrease to 15% by 2049 due to Australia's shift towards renewable energy sources. However, if construction continues at its current pace, annual embodied emissions are likely to remain high. The manufacturing of cement, for example, accounts for 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
Compared to operating emissions, reducing embodied carbon is more challenging as many material supply chains depend on fossil fuels and carbon-intensive practices.
Our research identified several strategies to cut embodied carbon in office buildings, with the combined implementation of these strategies potentially reducing total emissions by over 47 million tonnes, aligning the sector closer to the 2.0°C emissions pathway target. This study emphasizes the importance of "sufficiency" measures, such as refurbishing existing buildings and constructing fewer new buildings.
A prime example is Sydney's Quay Quarter Tower, which was retrofitted with minimal additional carbon emissions, transforming a 1976 structure into a functional and sustainable office space.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
