March 28, 2025

What is Building Decarbonization

By  Chrissie Walsh

The built environment is responsible for nearly 40% of the world’s annual greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), offering an incredible opportunity for impact through industry change. Decarbonization refers to the reduction of GHGs caused throughout the lifetime of a building, focusing on the whole-life carbon of the building’s lifecycle. This is based in systems thinking and the alignment of all building components and functioning. 

Decarbonizing is best achieved when integrated building practices occur through design, construction, operation, maintenance, asset retirement, and deconstruction processes. It brings all stakeholders to the table to establish a plan of action towards phased decarbonization, assuring each role is aligned in the goal. 

This concept can be applied to new builds as well as retrofits to existing buildings with the intention of driving deep emissions reductions through integrating methods in maximized energy efficiency, electrification, renewable energy, low-GWP refrigerant management, passive technologies, and purposeful material choices. For further details on this subject, refer to these resources, which include a four-part video series titled “Decarb 101”. 

What is Whole-Life Carbon? 

Traditionally, the carbon reductions in a building have focused on operational emissions during the active use of a structure. Operational carbon focuses on emissions associated with active use of the building, including energy consumption. Embodied carbon, however, focuses on the material choices that make up a building and the impact of carbon held within product choices throughout. 

Whole-life carbon (WLC) refers to both the operational and embodied carbon emissions from manufacturing, transporting, constructing, operating, repairing, and maintaining a building, even through the deconstruction and waste pathways for all building components.

 

Building decarbonization focuses efforts on addressing operation carbon with effective systems design, operation, and maintenance and embodied carbon with intentional material choices. 

Where do Uponor Products and GF Building Flow Solutions Fit into Decarbonization? 

Although the use of Uponor PEX-a products will have a smaller impact on the overall decarbonization of a building, there are benefits worth noting and a number of advantages to support decarbonization efforts. 

• There is a strong sustainability story to Uponor PEX-a pipe solutions, including studies that detail the lower embodied carbon impact over metallics. 

• GF Building Flow Solutions contributes to the data-focused and transparency efforts of those designing for decarbonization through the publication of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), a genuine brand differentiator in the MEP industry, which lacks EPDs currently.  

• Building decarbonization will depend heavily on energy efficiency first. Hydronic radiant heating and cooling systems maximize the efficiency of space conditioning through delivering temperature changes via water versus forced air. 

• There are also decarbonization-enabling solutions through a systems mindset in product application. The Uponor AquaPort™ decentralizes hot-water delivery throughout a building, creating opportunities for reduced material needs (and thereby, embodied carbon), as well as energy requirements in the process. With that, both the radiant systems and AquaPort can be integrated with heat pump technologies, one of the main technological applications being employed in decarbonization efforts. 

• Finally, incorporating integrated building design also helps support decarbonization goals. This process invites all key stakeholders to the table to support the sustainability and decarbonization goals of a building, including design, construction, commissioning, active use, replacement and repair, and asset retirement. Ultimately, sustainability is about maximizing the intentional and focused power that comes from partnerships. The systems-level thinking towards decarbonization will require a collaborative mindset for all involved. 

Take Away 

Systematic and swift action in decarbonization is critical within the built environment industry. While not everyone in the industry is pursuing builds with this in mind, regulations may change this sooner rather than later. It is important to know the facts and generate awareness about these forward-thinking ideas to be aptly prepared when the industry comes calling.