First edition of Forum CBCB puts spotlight on reduction of embodied carbon in buildings

The first edition of the Forum sur la construction bas carbone et biosourcée (CBCB), organized by the Centre d’expertise sur la construction commerciale en bois (Cecobois), took place at the Québec City Convention Centre last month.

The event, held as a parallel event to the 10^th edition of the Cecobois Conferences, was the first-ever large-scale event focused on the reduction of embodied carbon in buildings, and highlighted the development and extended use of non-residential multi-storey wood buildings in recent years.

At the event, participants had the opportunity to hear about the European approach to low-carbon construction, and benefitted from the expertise of Canadian professionals working on these types of issues, such as regulatory initiatives like the City of Toronto’s Green Standard and the Vancouver Building By-Law, both of which impose limits on embodied carbon in buildings.

When considering the environmental performance of buildings, embodied carbon, which includes the GHG emitted into the atmosphere when manufacturing the construction materials, can no longer be ignored.

“Given the improvements to the energy efficiency of buildings, and given the context in Quebec, where hydro-electricity – clean energy – is predominant as an energy source, embodied carbon can account for up to 75 per cent of a building’s carbon footprint over its life cycle,” said Louis Poliquin, director of Cecobois.

Quebec’s Minister of Natural Resources and Forests, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, was also present at the opening conference of the 10^th edition of the Cecobois Conferences. Innovation and training are some of the solutions put forward in the Politique d’intégration du bois, in order to reduce GHG emissions by the construction sector, among other things.

The Minister presented various forms of financial assistance available to support the implementation of new training aimed at addressing the changing needs of stakeholders in the non-residential and multi-family wood construction chain, as well as to promote the environmental benefits of using wood through long-term storage of carbon in wood products used to construct buildings.

“The growing percentage of non-residential public and private wood-framed buildings of four storeys or less built in Quebec provides ample proof of this. It more than doubled between 2006 and 2022, from 15 per cent to 36 per cent,” said Louis Poliquin, director of Cecobois. “We need to continue our training and awareness efforts to ensure that the percentage further increases in the future.”

In its Plan pour économie verte 2030 (PVE), the Quebec Government hopes to transform construction and renovation practices by promoting the use of energy efficient, low carbon footprint construction materials. Numerous preliminary analyses have highlighted the growing interest shown by professionals in reducing GHG emissions in the building sector across Quebec.

In Quebec, Cecobois will play a leadership role by implementing an initiative to document the average carbon footprint of buildings. The initiative aims to build an LCA database, produce a literature review, and develop a roadmap in collaboration with partner members from the Cecobois Network.