CSBE news
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is one of the standardized frameworks widely used for evaluating the environmental impacts of buildings. Despite the guidance of international standards, namely, ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006, LCA results remain highly sensitive to...
CSBE news
Pre-print: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7272395 The need for housing is increasing globally at a time that climate science requires reductions in all sectors. This paper asks if current regulations for embodied GHG in building codes can meet...
CSBE news
Concrete slab thickness is a key driver of embodied GHG emissions in modern buildings. This is in part driven by a widely-used method to select slab thickness which is based on the span-to-depth ratio and usually provides conservative slab thickness values. Optimizing...
CSBE news
CivMin researchers shine a bright light on our future as a record crowd assembled to address the concerns of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at an annual symposium. Clockwise from top left: Prof. Aryan Rezaei Rad, Prof. Evan Bentz, PhD student Shayan Aboodi,...
CSBE news
Pre-print: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6515121 Cities must reduce housing-related emissions while accommodating growing populations, yet for the housing sector efficiency improvements alone are insufficient to meet climate targets. Reducing...
CSBE news
Pre-print: https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-9087554/latest Housing development planning demands methods that can balance its many potential environmental and economic impacts. Existing tools are custom-built for particular cities, and use data models that...
CSBE news
Full article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778826011357?dgcid=coauthorPre-print: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6308998This paper examines material use, material intensity, and embodied greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions...
CSBE news
In line with Canadian low-carbon roadmaps, the cement and concrete sector need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to achieve net-zero targets by 2050. As clinker production is the primary source of cement-related CO2 emissions, reducing clinker content through...
CSBE news
The problem To grow housing without growing emissions, the AEC sector must rapidly scale lower-carbon, high-performance materials such as mass timber. Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) has become a leading panelized option for mid- to high-rise buildings as codes in Canada...
CSBE news, Embodied GHG
On May 7, 2025, over 200 delegates gathered at the University of Toronto for the second Embodied GHG Symposium, co-hosted by Prof. Shoshanna Saxe, director of the Centre for the Sustainable Built Environment (CSBE) and the School of Cities. The symposium brought...
