CarbonSpace: Designing with Carbon from the First Sketch

"Every act of building begins with the transformation of raw materials, energy, and land, and this inevitably entails environmental impact. This encompasses all the changes a process triggers in the natural world: from resource extraction to pollutant emissions, from energy consumption to biodiversity loss. Measuring this is complex, as it spans multiple dimensions. Carbon has emerged as the common metric, translating these effects into greenhouse gas emissions (CO₂ equivalent) directly linked to global warming."

"This standardization has made it omnipresent and comparable across materials, systems, and sectors. Reducing carbon emissions, therefore, means addressing the root of global warming, which is a particularly urgent task in the construction industry, responsible for about 39% of global emissions. In response to this challenge, MVRDV NEXT, the innovation and digital tools division of the Dutch architectural firm, launched CarbonSpace, a free, open platform that brings carbon accounting to the architect's desk, right at the napkin sketch stage."

Building transforms raw materials, energy, and land, producing environmental impacts through resource extraction, pollutant emissions, energy consumption, and biodiversity loss. Measurement of these impacts is complex because they span multiple dimensions. Carbon functions as a common metric by converting diverse effects into greenhouse gas emissions expressed in CO₂ equivalents, enabling comparability across materials, systems, and sectors. Reducing carbon emissions targets the root cause of global warming. The construction industry contributes roughly 39% of global emissions, making decarbonization urgent. MVRDV NEXT created CarbonSpace, a free, open platform that integrates carbon accounting into early-stage architectural design, enabling assessment at the napkin sketch stage.

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