Want to quickly find the embodied carbon order of magnitude of your project or framing scheme? Use this very simple estimator below that we call ECOM.
ECOM stands for (E)mbodied (C)arbon (O)rder of (M)agnitude and is a basic embodied carbon estimator. ECOM allows users to determine approximate estimates of embodied carbon for a material product, an assembly of framing for comparison purposes, or even an entire structural frame.
The underlying data has been gathered from publicly available industry-wide Environmental Product Declarations (EPD’s) that are applicable to North America. In most cases they are the EPD’s produced by the applicable trade organization and constitute Life-Cycle Assessment modules A1 to A3. Please review the ECOM guidance document for further explanation of the underlying data.
This estimator’s overarching intent is to provide structural engineers or architects an approachable way to estimate embodied carbon. The estimator is applicable to users of all experience levels and could be used to develop an early project ROM of embodied carbon or used to back check results of a more robust analysis or something in between.
The estimator does not consider important data variabilities associated with life cycle material impact data and is not intended to replace commercially available Life-Cycle Assessment or material procurement tools and/or calculators readily available.
Simply input the quantity of materials to get the embodied carbon impact and for larger schemes, the area for assessing embodied carbon intensities.
ECOM Guidance Documents and Examples
Notes on CMU (see EPD list at link above for data source):
- Normal Weight: The normal weight GWP is based on the CMHA EPD’s NW1 classification (2,000-3,240 psi) and a density of 130 pcf.
- Light Weight: The lightweight GWP is based on the CMHA EPD’s LW-M classification using manufactured lightweight aggregate and a density of 100 pcf. Practitioners in regions using natural aggregate should note that the GWP for such units is significantly lower.