Low-carbon buildings must account for materials emissions, IEB says (theclimatewatch.com)

Engineers and architects urged Bangladesh’s construction sector to account for embodied carbon and adopt low-carbon materials, life-cycle assessment and environmental product declarations from design onward. Buildings in Bangladesh must be designed to reduce not only energy consumption but also the carbon emissions generated throughout the production, transport and use of construction materials, engineering and architectural experts said at a seminar in Dhaka on Thursday. The experts called for greater use of low-carbon and bio-based building materials and urged the construction sector to incorporate the environmental impact of materials across their entire life cycle into building design and planning. The remarks came at a seminar titled “Engineering Low-Carbon and Bio-Based Buildings: From Material Characterization and LCA to EPD and Building Performance”, held at the Council Hall of the Shaheed Engineers Building at the headquarters of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) in Ramna, Dhaka. The seminar was organised by IEB and chaired by IEB Vice-President (Academic and International) Engineer Khan Manjur Morshed. In his address as chair, Morshed said research and technological innovation had made people’s lives easier but that the benefits of technology depended on its purpose and use. Citing dynamite as an example, he said the technology that had...