commentFree On-line Construction Carbon Calculator Launched
Seattle-based Mithun architects and the Austin-based Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center announced in July a new web-based carbon calculator for measuring the embodied carbon output of new construction projects.
Based on what you have seen and read about this project, how would you grade it? Use the stars below to indicate your assessment, five stars being the highest rating.
The calculator, called BuildCarbonNeutral, can be found at www.buildcarbonneutral.org. Mithun and the Center collaborated on the project to address the 20 percent of a building’s carbon footprint that can be attributed to the manufacture, transportation, and assembly of construction materials. The other 80 percent is attributed to on-going building maintenance and operation. The calculator’s baseline is an estimation of the carbon dioxide sequestered or released based on the existing conditions of the site’s theoretical natural landscape.
Architects and contractors will need to know only a few items to estimate the carbon footpring: the building’s square footage, number of floors, and structural frame material; as well as the project’s eco-region, square footage and type of landscape removed, and the square footage and type of landscape installed.
The calculator is an on-going project and developers welcome feedback from users.
For more information:
www.mithun.com
www.wildflower.org
Additionally, read about Mithun’s other work in the accounting of carbon footprints:
http://archrecord.construction.com/resources/conteduc/archives/0703edit-1.asp
http://archrecord.construction.com/tech/techBriefs/0703dignews-1.asp
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