Much has been written in the media about the just concluded UN Climate Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, most of it focusing on the agreement to agree on reparations or more correctly stated, on providing “loss and damage” funding in the future for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters. But the biggest takeaway for … Continue Reading
The golden opportunity in ESG may be in concrete. Embodied carbon refers to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with materials’ manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal. In a building, there is “upfront” embodied carbon in construction and then operational carbon largely from energy consumption. Embodied carbon is particularly important because it contributes more climate changing … Continue Reading
There is a new answer to the philosophical question, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear, does it make a sound?” The answer has depended upon your definition of sound. If you define sound as our perceptions of vibrations that travel through air (vibrations from a falling tree), … Continue Reading
Scope 4 greenhouse gas emissions are not new. They date to 2013 when the Greenhouse Gas Protocol identified “avoided emissions” as emission reductions that occur outside of a product’s lifecycle or value chain, but as a result of the use of that product. It was actually a decade ago that the GHG Protocol released “a survey to … Continue Reading
