The Earth Overshoot Day, the date when humanity has used all the biological resources that Earth regenerates during the year, provides a good marker to track our progress on the climate crisis. The bad news is that this date is being reached far earlier than it was in previous decades. 50 years ago, the Earth Overshoot Day was December 14, 1972, while in 2022, the date landed on July 28, highlighting how human consumption far outpaces what the Earth can regenerate each year.

Reducing carbon emissions, or decarbonization, will play an essential role in slowing down climate change. As we work to reduce carbon emissions across the globe, the AEC industry must do its part. In 2019, the CO2 emissions of the building and construction industry increased to 38% of total global energy-related CO2 emissions.

Until recently, the construction industry’s response to reducing building-related emissions has focused on energy efficiency, which overlooks embodied carbon emissions found in the material and construction processes across a building’s lifecycle. Moreover, a recent report by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development revealed that less than 1% of building projects currently assess or measure their lifecycle carbon impacts. Since buildings are a significant contributor to emissions, it is critical that efforts increase to plan, monitor, and evaluate the materials’ entire lifecycle to be used in construction.

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