Measuring Cradle-to-Gate Embodied-Carbon Life Cycle Assessment of a Conventional Three-Story Residential Building: A Case Study

With the looming challenges of global warming, huge efforts and resources have been deployed to make our buildings more energy efficient and consume less during their operating phase, but another factor in climate change mitigation strategies that we must take into consideration in built environment is the embodied carbon in materials used in construction. Within this framework, this study intends to assess the embodied carbon footprint of a typical Moroccan residential three-story building through the calculation of the total cradle-to-gate embodied carbon emissions of the major building materials. Using the life cycle assessment as a tool and Inventory of Carbon & Energy (ICE) as an open-source database, a conventional construction scenario is evaluated, using current construction materials. The results show that cradle-to-gate & replacement embodied carbon amounts to 418.67 kg CO2eq/m2/year over the 100-year operating period of the building. Whereas buildings in Morocco consume a lot of concrete and steel, both of which are carbon-intensive and findings show that they account for around 32,83% of the total emissions. Up to date, there has been no regulation to implement mandatory whole life cycle carbon assessment and promote methods, strategies and practices that encourage the decarbonization of built environment in Morocco. Hence, the findings of this case study intend to shed the light on embodied carbon of typical Moroccan residential building, to encourage the industry and academia to consider the embodied carbon and to learn more about it before legal requirements take place.