Quantification and Optimization of Structural Embodied Energy and Carbon

At this time, embodied energy and carbon impacts related to the design and construction of buildings in general, and load-bearing structures in particular, are not (yet) considered as a matter of course during the design process. Consequently, the relative magnitude of such impacts associated with fundamental structural design parameters is generally not well understood. This paper reviews some of the scientific background related to structural embodied energy and carbon and conceptually introduces two tools developed by Thornton Tomasetti that are aimed at quantifying and optimizing the embodied energy and carbon impacts associated with the design and construction of structural systems.