Download CO₂NSTRUCT
CO₂NSTRUCT provides embodied carbon and energy values for building materials, including concrete, glass, timber and metals, as well as products such as bathroom and kitchen fittings and lifts. This datasheet is provided as part of BRANZ's development of the New Zealand whole-building whole-of-life framework.
Download CO₂NSTRUCT.
Embodied carbon and energy
Embodied carbon is the amount of greenhouse gases, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents, required to produce a material.
Embodied energy is the amount of energy consumed to extract, refine, process, transport and fabricate a material or product (including buildings). This is provided as a total and divided into energy from non-renewable and renewable sources.
Values
The values provided by CO₂NSTRUCT are representative of the embodied carbon and energy used up to the factory gate of the manufacturer. Therefore, they do not include transport to the construction site or wastage at the construction site.
In the case of in situ reinforced concrete, values are provided for the concrete and reinforcement, even though these are not combined until the construction site.
Data quality
The data quality guide in CO₂NSTRUCT categorises the sources that values are derived from. These are ranked from good quality to poorer quality.
Values besides those with an A data quality rating do not necessarily represent specific products in the New Zealand market.
LCAQuick: Life cycle assessment tool
In addition to a product's embodied carbon and energy, it is important to assess the impact it has on the environment from a life cycle perspective.
LCAQuick is a free Excel-based tool developed by BRANZ to help architects, designers and engineers make sustainable design decisions.
Contribute data to CO₂NSTRUCT
We update values in CO₂NSTRUCT yearly as environmental product declarations and other sources of data become available.
If you are a construction product manufacturer, importer, material supplier or service provider with data that you would like to contribute to CO₂NSTRUCT, please email zerocarbon@branz.co.nz.
For more information about CO₂NSTRUCT, you are welcome to email:
Jarred Butler at jarred.butler@branz.co.nz.