Contained in:
Book Chapter

Carbon Tracking in the Building Sector: A ‘CABBAGE’ Framework

  • Jiajia Wang
  • Geoffrey Qiping Shen
  • Fan Xue

The great challenge of global climate change urges world economies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable development, where the building sector plays a vital role. Carbon tracking technology is one of the keys to capturing carbon emissions for sustainable construction such as net-zero buildings. This paper reviews five key carbon tracking technologies – life cycle assessment (LCA), energy modeling, building operation monitoring, carbon accounting software, and green certification and rating systems. With summarized advantages, beneficiaries, and limitations of the five technologies, we propose a Carbon Tracking ‘Cabbage’ (CTC) framework that incorporates all carbon tracking tools as inner technological layers for multiple stakeholders at multiple stages of construction management. The main contribution of this paper is the CTC framework that rationalizes the scopes and adoption strategies of carbon tracking technologies by collaborative stakeholders to achieve informed decision-making, implement effective carbon reduction strategies, and subsequently contribute to climate change mitigation actively

  • Keywords:
  • Carbon tracking; Building sector; Carbon tracking cabbage framework; multi-stakeholder; Technology adoption,
+ Show More

Jiajia Wang

The University of Hong Kong, China

Geoffrey Qiping Shen

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong - ORCID: 0000-0002-3111-2019

Fan Xue

The University of Hong Kong, China - ORCID: 0000-0003-2217-3693

  1. Bilec, M. M., Ries, R., & Matthews, H. S. (2010). Life-Cycle Assessment Modeling of construction processes for buildings. Journal of Infrastructure Systems, 16(3), 199–205. DOI: 10.1061/(asce)is.1943-555x.0000022
  2. Chang, Y., Huang, Z., Ries, R., & Masanet, E. (2016). The embodied air pollutant emissions and water footprints of buildings in China: a quantification using disaggregated input–output life cycle inventory model. Journal of Cleaner Production, 113, 274–284. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.11.014
  3. Dodoo, A., Gustavsson, L., & Sathre, R. (2014). Lifecycle carbon implications of conventional and low-energy multi-storey timber building systems. Energy and Buildings, 82, 194–210. DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.06.034
  4. Geng, J., Wang, J., Huang, J., Zhou, D., Bai, J., Wang, J., Zhang, H., Duan, H., & Zhang, W. (2022). Quantification of the carbon emission of urban residential buildings: The case of the Greater Bay Area cities in China. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 95, 106775. DOI: 10.1016/j.eiar.2022.106775
  5. Hong, J., Shen, G. Q., Feng, Y., Lau, W. S., & Mao, C. (2015). Greenhouse gas emissions during the construction phase of a building: a case study in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 103, 249–259. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.11.023
  6. Kang, G., Kim, T., Kim, Y. K., Cho, H., & Kang, K. (2015). Statistical analysis of embodied carbon emission for building construction. Energy and Buildings, 105, 326–333. DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2015.07.058
  7. Khalili, A., & Chua, D. K. H. (2013). IFC-Based Framework to Move beyond Individual Building Elements toward Configuring a Higher Level of Prefabrication. Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 27(3), 243–253. DOI: 10.1061/(asce)cp.1943-5487.0000203
  8. Li, L. J., & Chen, K. (2017). Quantitative assessment of carbon dioxide emissions in construction projects: A case study in Shenzhen. Journal of Cleaner Production, 141, 394–408. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.09.134
  9. Liu, G., Gu, T., Xu, P., Hong, J., Shrestha, A., & Martek, I. (2019). A production line-based carbon emission assessment model for prefabricated components in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 209, 30–39. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.10.172
  10. Liu, G., Yang, H., Fu, Y., Mao, C., Xu, P., Hong, J., & Li, R. (2020). Cyber-physical system-based real-time monitoring and visualization of greenhouse gas emissions of prefabricated construction. Journal of Cleaner Production, 246, 119059. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119059
  11. Long, R., Li, J., Chen, H., & Zhang, L. (2018). Embodied carbon dioxide flow in international trade: A comparative analysis based on China and Japan. Journal of Environmental Management, 209, 371–381. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.12.067
  12. Ma, M., Ma, X., Cai, W., & Cai, W. (2020). Low carbon roadmap of residential building sector in China: Historical mitigation and prospective peak. Applied Energy, 273, 115247. DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115247
  13. Wang, J., Huang, Y., Teng, Y., Yu, B., Wang, J., Zhang, H., & Duan, H. (2021). Can buildings sector achieve the carbon mitigation ambitious goal: Case study for a low-carbon demonstration city in China? Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 90, 106633. DOI: 10.1016/j.eiar.2021.106633
  14. Wang, J., Teng, Y., Chen, Z., Bai, J., Niu, Y., & Duan, H. (2021). Assessment of carbon emissions of building interior decoration and renovation waste disposal in the fast-growing Greater Bay Area, China. Science of the Total Environment, 798, 149158. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149158
  15. Xu, J., Zhang, Q., Teng, Y., & Pan, W. (2023). Integrating IoT and BIM for tracking and visualising embodied carbon of prefabricated buildings. Building and Environment, 242, 110492. DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2023.110492
PDF
  • Publication Year: 2023
  • Pages: 1085-1093

XML
  • Publication Year: 2023

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Carbon Tracking in the Building Sector: A ‘CABBAGE’ Framework

Authors

Jiajia Wang, Geoffrey Qiping Shen, Fan Xue

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0289-3.108

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY-NC 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

CONVR 2023 - Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality

Book Subtitle

Managing the Digital Transformation of Construction Industry

Editors

Pietro Capone, Vito Getuli, Farzad Pour Rahimian, Nashwan Dawood, Alessandro Bruttini, Tommaso Sorbi

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY-NC 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0289-3

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0289-3

eISBN (xml)

979-12-215-0257-2

Series Title

Proceedings e report

Series ISSN

2704-601X

Series E-ISSN

2704-5846

30

Fulltext
downloads

36

Views

Export Citation

1,307

Open Access Books

in the Catalogue

1,949

Book Chapters

3,290,448

Fulltext
downloads

4,134

Authors

from 860 Research Institutions

of 63 Nations

63

scientific boards

from 339 Research Institutions

of 43 Nations

1,150

Referees

from 345 Research Institutions

of 37 Nations