Embodied Carbon & Structural Design

Details

1-day course

CPD Credit: 6.5 hours, C1

Course Aim

This course aims to lead trainees through the challenges related to greenhouse gas emissions caused by construction, along with providing alternatives and innovative solutions to those challenges. The goal of Net Zero by 2050 will require radical changes to current methods of living and working. All other beneficial actions that you could do for the environment, such as flying less, are dwarfed by the impact that material savings in structural design can have.

Course Overview

Buildings and the construction industry are responsible for approximately 40% of CO2 emissions globally. We can divide these emissions into two types: operational carbon for the powering a building (light, heat, etc.) and embodied carbon for the creation of a building (structure, envelope, substructure). With developments in clean energy, operational carbon has reduced. However, there has been much less progress with embodied carbon, comprising up to 80% of lifetime building emissions. Unless radical changes are made to the way we build, the targets in legally binding climate agreements will not be met. Five EU countries have introduced legislation to limit whole-life carbon emissions, and embodied carbon budgets for buildings may soon come into law across the EU.

Transitioning from common materials, such as concrete or steel, to less carbon-intensive bio-based materials, such as timber or bamboo, can help to reduce GHG emissions. Alternatives to standard materials will be explored and evaluated.

However, to reduce embodied carbon by a relevant quantity, it is not sufficient to only transition to biomaterials, it is also critical to use less material in general. Analysis of recently constructed buildings has demonstrated that material inefficiencies in the order of 50% are common.

Using low-carbon materials is one part of possible solutions, along with a general reduction of materials usage. Quantifying and limiting embodied carbon usage is explored in this course, giving the learner an overview of the current status along with strategies to improve it.  

Lightweight structures, those which often avoid bending and utilize axial forces instead, are material efficient but require more complex analysis than standard structures. Geometry plays a huge role in these methods. The use of form-finding in shaping structures is explored. This course gives an overview of the design methods for this variety of construction.

Course Programme

• Introduction to embodied carbon
• Quantification and digital methods
• Bio-based structural materials: benefits and drawbacks
• How geometry can reduce material usage
• Current research on methods to optimize structural performance
• Q&A

Learning Objectives

On successful completion of this course, delegates should be able to:

• Understand embodied carbon and the difference structural engineers can make to the climate crisis
• Quantify the impact that design choices will have on the environment
• Understand new and underutilized materials for structures
• Improve their knowledge of structural geometry
• Have an overview of lightweight structures
• Learn about cutting-edge research and methods

Who should attend

The course is tailored for engineers and other construction industry disciplines who want to understand and adapt to the challenge of the climate crisis.

Trainer Profile

Eoin Casserly is the Principal and Founder of VOLUTA, a specialist structural engineering consultancy operating internationally, based in Sligo. Previously, he held structural engineering positions in Paris, New York, and Stuttgart.

He is a regular contributor to books, conferences, and journals, with a focus on glass structures, complex facades, long-span structures, and the architectural response to the climate crisis. He also lectures at ATU in Structures, Computational Design, and Advanced Technologies. His current research combines pre-industrial materials with innovative construction and analysis techniques.

He has designed advanced structures such as gridshells, cable nets, facades, stadia, and artworks in over 20 countries, working through six languages. Project highlights include the highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere, the world’s first cable net with curved glass, the largest-spanning glazed roof in South America, and gridshells for the largest botanic garden in the world. He was the winner of Engineers Ireland’s Chartered Engineer of the Year Award 2023.