Embodied carbon scenario analysis of the upper tiers of performance in the 2020 Canadian National Building Code

New report from Natural Resources Canada and Builders for Climate Action!

To date, actions to reduce GHG emissions from the built environment focus entirely on operational emissions, as with Canada's performance tiers in the National Building Code.

This study examines the scale and scope of those emissions arising from the manufacturing of building materials for the Canadian homebuilding sector, and shows that annual emissions could be between 8-20 million tonnes for new homes.

We examine the impact of improving energy efficiency on material emissions and recommend a combined metric -- Carbon Use Intensity (CUI) -- to capture a fuller picture of the climate impact of Canadian homes.

Download the report >