Protocol and tool for calculating and reducing the carbon footprint in the construction and rehabilitation of buildings throughout their life cycle.

The HCe project, “Protocol and tool for calculating and reducing the carbon footprint in buildings throughout their life cycle” consists of calculating the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in buildings -Carbon Footprint- associated with the design and construction or rehabilitation works of a building, after a process of analysis of the life cycle of the same. in order to know, reduce and offset the CO2 emissions associated with the building.

Currently, current regulations require the data of the energy rating of a building as part of the content of the project for the application for a license for construction or rehabilitation works of said building. This data shows the estimated energy consumption to meet the energy demand under normal operating and occupancy conditions, i.e. the energy consumed by the building in its use phase.

The objective, with the HCe project, is to make the regulations extensible to the CO2 equivalent emissions data of a building, as part of the content of the project for applying for a license for construction or rehabilitation works of said building. This data indicates the GHG emissions contemplated by a building throughout its life cycle, that is, it would include the energy used in the construction and transport of materials, the energy embedded in the manufacture of the materials themselves, that associated with the use and generation of waste in all its life phases… In short, what is called “from cradle to grave”.

The initiative consists of establishing a methodology and developing a calculation tool that shows the carbon footprint of a building throughout its life cycle, completing the information given today with the energy certification, which corresponds exclusively to the use phase.
Based on this data obtained in the design phase, it is possible to seek an energy and environmental improvement in the building, prior to its construction, and reduce the carbon footprint, and even offset it. In this way, greater efficiency in processes is achieved and environmental and economic costs are reduced.