Track: Construction Management

Abstract

The construction industry has significant impacts on the environment and is responsible for a considerable amount of carbon emissions throughout the total life cycle of structures. While majority of carbon footprint analyses addressing construction industries differ in system boundaries, scopes, greenhouse gas selection, and methods selected, the increasing number of carbon footprint reporting in response to legal and business demand lead for worldwide use and adoption of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) set by World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).  In this study, carbon footprint of Turkish construction industry will be analyzed in accordance with carbon footprint accounting standards and scopes set by WBCSD, in which carbon emissions are classified in three major scopes and all possible indirect emissions are considered. Multi-regional input-output methodology, a comprehensive consumption-based accounting approach, is utilized to calculate carbon emissions throughout the supply chains of construction industry including the impacts occur in countries outside of Turkey. In addition, Global Carbon Accounting Tool (G-CAT), a Web-based carbon accounting tool (see at http://s3-lab.sehir.edu.tr/gcat), is developed to disseminate the results as well as to allow researchers to conduct carbon footprint analysis of major industries including construction sector.