# Growing Awareness of Embodied Carbon
**URL:** https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/t/growing-awareness-of-embodied-carbon/3186
**Category:** Structural
**Tags:** news, embodied-carbon
**Created:** [April 5, 2021, 10:28am UTC](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/t/growing-awareness-of-embodied-carbon/3186 "2021-04-05T10:28:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@brian.mcsweeney](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/u/brian.mcsweeney)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2021, 10:28am UTC](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/t/growing-awareness-of-embodied-carbon/3186/1 "2021-04-05T10:28:58Z")
Fellow Structural Engineers & Embodied Carbon Champions:
Embodied Carbon is making the news more frequently in recent months. Here is an interesting example from The Guardian of how the subject is being addressed in the public eye. I honestly think this is a pretty decent representation. Have you had opportunities to write articles or speak in forums outside of our Structural Engineering community? I would urge you to consider what else you can be doing!
[The dirty secret of so-called ‘fossil-fuel free’ buildings](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/03/dirty-secret-fossil-fuel-free-building-embodied-carbon-building-glass-steel-blocks)
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### Author:  [@jesuschrist123](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/u/jesuschrist123)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2021, 9:15am UTC](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/t/growing-awareness-of-embodied-carbon/3186/2 "2021-04-07T09:15:10Z")
[GREEN EAST MASTER LTD power point (1) (1) (1).pdf](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/uploads/short-url/s8G2tA4LIqWTvhEPIZS0LJcyr4P.pdf) (2.5 MB) [Cimexpan Presentation Edited (1) (1).pdf](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/uploads/short-url/AqgqJH1hdTyzcrNeA89De5m0UGC.pdf) (1.8 MB) We are a Mauritian company involved in the manufacturing of low carbon cement and concrete of high thermal value. It was a French technology developed in Mauritius.
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### Author:  [@heyslivers](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/u/heyslivers)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2021, 5:42pm UTC](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/t/growing-awareness-of-embodied-carbon/3186/3 "2021-04-11T17:42:25Z")
There’s some progressive ideas in the article. I liked:
He is highly critical of [glass-walled office towers](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/28/ban-all-glass-skscrapers-to-save-energy-in-climate-crisis), arguing that, while they may boast environmental credentials, they have a huge amount of built-in obsolescence, given that their glazing systems are often only guaranteed to last for 30 years. You would expect these towers to last at least a century,” he says, “but they have a big embodied cost when these deep, triple-glazed units will have to be replaced so often.”
The more we publish, the more it will get picked up by the mainstream. At best, I have spoken to students about this topic, but there is more to do.
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### Author:  [@brian.mcsweeney](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/u/brian.mcsweeney)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2021, 10:53am UTC](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/t/growing-awareness-of-embodied-carbon/3186/4 "2021-04-13T10:53:19Z")
@heyslivers - I agree! Thank you for highlighting that. One truly would expect for these massive monuments to engineering and architecture there would be a much longer expected life of components than for an average building like a small retail strip center.
In general, this makes me think back to how my parents are still using a box fan they had in college; I’ve been through a few over the years because they just don’t last anymore. We should certainly have a much “longer view” for all structures and their components - and especially for the big ones!