As a spin off from the research here presented, a large cooperation of researchers published a paper exploring : “Carbon budgets for buildings: harmonising temporal, spatial and sectoral dimensions”
it can be accessed here: https://journal-buildingscities.org/articles/10.5334/bc.47/
it wa spart of special issue with more papers on the issue:
https://www.buildingsandcities.org/journal-content/special-issues/carbon-metrics.html
Recently there are new detailed calculations available on the total budget (2018). See chapter 1.1 for more info, and the carbon countdown page
(these have not yet been implemented in this research)
In advance of the SBE19 conference in Graz, there will be a two day workshop on the carbon budget topic. https://www.tugraz.at/events/sbe19/home/
While we are part of a energy transition globally, many calculations are made based on costs, in cts/kWh, and wind and solar now seem to become very cheap. But its not about costs. That’s artificial, its about real and absolute CO2 levels, and energy efficiency. So I found data for EROI ( energy return on investment), and for CO2 emissions/kWh. And I put them together: which one scores best in both categories? Only 3…
See the new chapter 3.4
In a society to function sustainable, it is assumed that the yearly CO2 budget per capita is 1 ton. ( Where its is now around 10 ton CO2-eq per capita year in countries like Germany and the Netherlands). A major challenge. In this report by the German ministry for the environment, this scenario is explored:
For the WSBE conference in HongKong, a Project Poster has been prepared. Its A0 but is readable at A1 and A2 as well.
You can download the Poster here, free to print and/or spread.
The German ministry of environment has published a report with examples of Climate neutral lifestyles, as part of a awareness campaign. It supports some of the conclusions from the chapter 3.3 by Thomas Luetzkendorf.
The report (in English) can be downloaded here:
Together with partners Global ABC, CIB, UNEP and FIDIC, iiSBE has initiated a international GHG survey , listing major policies that should be executed on short term: >> Survey
iiSBE has launched a sister project, Plan B, a position paper on “Climate Change and Plan B”, which outlines some of the major climate change issues that affect the built environment, and what steps may be taken to address them. >> iiSBE page
by Ronald Rovers
To make the consequence of (remaining ) CO2 budgets imaginable, the introduction of a basic calculation can show the scale of the transition required, for a industrialized country.
The Netherlands has 17 million inhabitants, if the CO2 budget is equally divided globally , The Netherlands can claim 17million out of 7 billion = 0,0025 part the budget (B), or 0,5 Gt CO2 under the 1,5 degree scenario (B1,5), and 2,2 Gt under the B2 degree scenario.. ( Which is optimistic, since global population is growing and the trend is for increasing demand , further reducing local and per capita budgets. ) If we assume that for the reform of society the attribution per sector remains the same, then 40% can be attributed for the building and housing sector, operations and investments , or B1,5 = 0,2 Gt CO2 and B2=0,8 Gton (- remaining to be emitted from the building and housing sector). Continue reading Retrofitting for 0-energy
