Hello,
I’m curious if there is policy, standards, or official guidance out there regarding normalizing whole building embodied carbon results by building area to obtain an intensity value (kg CO2e/m2 or /sq ft), and how parking and/or underground construction should be treated.
I’ve heard various practitioners and/or jurisdictions take different approaches to this.
There are two parts this the question:
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Should ALL construction of a building be included in the carbon assessment? I think this is a ‘yes’. All construction including underground spaces and building-integrated parking (parking levels) should be included in the carbon calculation.
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Should ALL construction area be included in the area used to normalize the GWP by? This is a bit trickier. Some folks exclude parking levels from the area quantity, and only normalize total building GWP by the habitable area (or non-parking area); while others only use above-grade areas and ignore anything below grade.
I understand that the official Government of Canada (NRC Whole Building Guidelines on LCA) is to use all the area including parking levels and any underground areas, but that others including the Canada Green Building Council prefer to use just habitable (non parking) areas to normalize by. Some jurisdictions only use above grade areas. Obviously, the area selected will greatly impact the resulting embodied carbon intensity.
Does anyone have some official guidance on this from outside Canada?
Thank you!
