Getting the numbers right and getting the right numbers: quantifying the embodied carbon of building structures

Environmental impacts of upgrading gas to electric heating and cooling, considering decarbonisation of the electricity grid (2023)
Journal Article
Peukes, I. E., Pomponi, F., & D'Amico, B. (2023). Environmental impacts of upgrading gas to electric heating and cooling, considering decarbonisation of the electricity grid. Journal of Building Engineering, 68, Article 106066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2023.106066

Rising temperatures and higher energy costs have created the imperative for Australian households to reduce energy consumption via more efficient heating and cooling systems. These energy efficient systems could lower the overall environmental impact... Read More about Environmental impacts of upgrading gas to electric heating and cooling, considering decarbonisation of the electricity grid.

Life cycle assessment of 61 ducted gas heating upgrades in Australia (2021)
Journal Article
Peukes, I., Pomponi, F., & D'Amico, B. (2023). Life cycle assessment of 61 ducted gas heating upgrades in Australia. International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, 41(1), 143-169. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBPA-04-2021-0052

Operational energy use in buildings, accounts for 28% of global energy demand. One method to reduce operational energy is upgrading old appliances to more efficient ones. In Australia, the most common residential heating type is reverse-cycle heating... Read More about Life cycle assessment of 61 ducted gas heating upgrades in Australia.

Decoupling density from tallness in analysing the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of cities (2021)
Journal Article
Pomponi, F., Saint, R., Arehart, J. H., Gharavi, N., & D'Amico, B. (2021). Decoupling density from tallness in analysing the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of cities. npj Urban Sustainability, 1(1), Article 33. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-021-00034-w

The UN estimate 2.5 billion new urban residents by 2050, thus further increasing global greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and energy demand, and the environmental impacts caused by the built environment. Achieving optimal use of space and maximal effi... Read More about Decoupling density from tallness in analysing the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of cities.

Whole-life embodied carbon in multi-storey buildings: steel, concrete and timber structures (2021)
Journal Article
Hart, J., D'Amico, B., & Pomponi, F. (2021). Whole-life embodied carbon in multi-storey buildings: steel, concrete and timber structures. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 25(2), 403-418. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13139

Buildings and the construction industry are top contributors to climate change, and structures account for the largest share of the upfront greenhouse gas emissions. Whilst a body of research exists into such emissions, a systematic comparison of mul... Read More about Whole-life embodied carbon in multi-storey buildings: steel, concrete and timber structures.

Water, energy, and carbon dioxide footprints of the construction sector: a case study on developed and developing economies (2021)
Journal Article
Pomponi, F., & Stephan, A. (2021). Water, energy, and carbon dioxide footprints of the construction sector: a case study on developed and developing economies. Water Research, 194, Article 116935. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.116935

Buildings and construction are major driver of anthropogenic environmental effects. While energy use and CO2 emissions of buildings and construction have been quantified, their water footprint remains understudied from an economy-wide perspective. We... Read More about Water, energy, and carbon dioxide footprints of the construction sector: a case study on developed and developing economies.

Low Energy Architecture and Low Carbon Cities: Exploring Links, Scales, and Environmental Impacts (2020)
Journal Article
Pomponi, F., & D’Amico, B. (2020). Low Energy Architecture and Low Carbon Cities: Exploring Links, Scales, and Environmental Impacts. Sustainability, 12(21), Article 9189. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12219189

Projected population growth and urbanization rates will create a huge demand for new buildings and put an unprecedented pressure on the natural environment and its limited resources. Architectural design has often focused on passive or low-energy app... Read More about Low Energy Architecture and Low Carbon Cities: Exploring Links, Scales, and Environmental Impacts.

Global potential for material substitution in building construction: the case of cross laminated timber (2020)
Journal Article
D'Amico, B., Pomponi, F., & Hart, J. (2021). Global potential for material substitution in building construction: the case of cross laminated timber. Journal of Cleaner Production, 279, Article 123487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123487

The building and construction sector is a large contributor to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and consumes the vastest amount of natural resources. Widely considered a hard-to-decarbonise sector, improvements in buildings and construction are... Read More about Global potential for material substitution in building construction: the case of cross laminated timber.

On mass quantities of gravity frames in building structures (2020)
Journal Article
D'Amico, B., & Pomponi, F. (2020). On mass quantities of gravity frames in building structures. Journal of Building Engineering, 31, Article 101426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2020.101426

This paper introduces a numerical study aimed at analysing and quantifying existing correlations between structural masses of the gravity frame in building structures (i.e. excluding lateral load resisting system) and some key basic design variables,... Read More about On mass quantities of gravity frames in building structures.

A compactness measure of sustainable building forms (2019)
Journal Article
D'Amico, B., & Pomponi, F. (2019). A compactness measure of sustainable building forms. Royal Society Open Science, 6(6), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.181265

Global population growth and urbanisation require countless more buildings in this century, causing an unprecedented increase in energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, waste generation, and resource use. It is imperative to approach maximal ef... Read More about A compactness measure of sustainable building forms.

Machine Learning for Sustainable Structures: A Call for Data (2018)
Journal Article
D'Amico, B., Myers, R., Sykes, J., Voss, E., Cousins-Jenvey, B., Fawcett, W., Richardson, S., Kermani, A., & Pomponi, F. (2019). Machine Learning for Sustainable Structures: A Call for Data. Structures, 19, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2018.11.013

Buildings are the world's largest contributors to energy demand, greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, resource consumption and waste generation. An unmissable opportunity exists to tackle climate change, global warming, and resource scarcity by rethinki... Read More about Machine Learning for Sustainable Structures: A Call for Data.