Building smarter: Edmonton's new industrial project aims for emissions reduction and material recovery
Summary
The project involved a circularity assessment for a new industrial building in Edmonton, Alberta, as part of the developer’s ESG commitment to reducing emissions.
Adaptis conducted detailed evaluations of the building’s whole-life cycle embodied carbon and circularity potential, identifying measures to enhance sustainability and reduce emissions.
The assessment confirmed the building’s compliance with carbon intensity standards and identified additional strategies for further reducing embodied carbon, aligning with the developer’s long-term sustainability goals.
Building Information
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Building Use: Commercial Warehouse
Year Built: 2013
Number of Buildings: 1
This project involves the construction of a new industrial building within a modern 50-acre industrial park in Edmonton, Alberta. The developer is committed to strong ESG goals, aiming to reduce operating emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. As part of this commitment, Adaptis was engaged to conduct a circularity assessment to evaluate the embodied carbon impacts of the building design and explore ways to extend the lifecycle of building materials. The building, designed for multiple tenants and offering nearly 20,000 m² of space, combines both office and warehouse areas.
Challenge
This project was driven by the developer's ambitious sustainability targets, including significant reductions in operating emissions and achieving net zero by 2050. Understanding and mitigating the whole-life cycle emissions of a new industrial building, particularly in the context of material use and long-term sustainability is challenging. The traditional approaches would often overlook embodied carbon emissions and end-of-life circularity, resulting in increased costs for building owners.
Summary of Targets
The scope included determining the whole-life cycle emissions of the industrial building and identifying measures to reduce these emissions through circularity. The client's motivation was driven by their ESG goals, with a focus on minimizing both immediate and long-term environmental impacts.
Results
Embodied carbon intensity (ECI) confirmed to fall under the Zero Carbon Building Standard’s maximum allowance at 435 kgCO2e/m²
9,231 tonnes of material identified for recovery
3,388 tCO2e avoided through proposed circularity measures
Additional strategies were identified that would enable achievement of the ZCB Impact and Innovation target set at 350 kgCO2e/m².
Adaptis Advantage
Adaptis utilized its proprietary datasets and patent pending methodology to estimate whole lifecycle carbon and circularity measures with an accuracy and certainty that is not available with traditional consultants. This method not only ensured the project met stringent carbon intensity targets but also provided significant cost savings by maximizing material recovery and reducing embodied carbon.