Passive House is fundamentally a tool for combating global climate change by reducing carbon emissions; however, as a system, Passive House focuses on reducing operational energy which is only responsible for part of a larger carbon footprint. Without a full accounting we are left asking the question: Have we built a Passive House or a Massive House? In order to determine whether a Passive House makes a positive, negative, or neutral contribution to carbon emissions, we must account for the embodied carbon of the building’s materials. This includes the creation, transport, and life-cycle in addition to the operational energy/carbon that Passive House focuses on so well.
This presentation discusses embodied and operational carbon accounting, and the comparison results of operational and embodied carbon for each building will be analyzed. The webinar concludes with solutions for making low carbon buildings more accessible for diverse project types.
Spaghetti Carbon-Era has been presented at conferences and events by PHIUS, Green Building United, Passive House Minnesota, NESEA, and for private clients.
Researcher/Presenter: David Salamon, Re:Vision Architecture
