Houses and buildings are sized to wrap around humans and floor heights set to allow humans to walk upright.

Due to its more efficient envelope performance, a Passivhaus building needs a small heating system, and due to its reduced energy demand, it requires a smaller PV array.These characteristics, when coupled with a focus on procuring low embodied carbon materials and equipment, can deliver objectively low embodied carbon designs, despite the additional material volume.. Based on the above, it can be observed that some of the inherent characteristics of Passivhaus increase embodied carbon whilst others reduce it.

Taking a 200 m2 house, (10 m x 10 m x 2 storeys, 40 % WWR) as an example, Bryden Wood has done a rough estimation of the impact that Passivhaus distinctive strategies have on embodied carbon:.Adding triple glazing instead of double glazing would increase carbon around 6 kgCO2/m2 over its lifetime.Adding a MVHR and ductwork would increase carbon by 6.5 kgCO2/m2.

Adding a heat pump would increase carbon by 3.5 kgCO2/m2.Adding insultation (rockwool) thickness in walls from 150mm to 250mm of rockwool would increase carbon by 3.6 kgCO2/m2.

Adding insultation (rockwool) thickness in floor and ceiling from 190mm to 370mm of rockwool would increase carbon by 6 kgCO2/m2.

Reducing the boiler size from a 15kw electric boiler to a 3kw boiler would reduce carbon by 1.69 kgCO2/m2.The UK aspires to reduce total carbon emissions by 78% by 2035, compared to 2020 levels, and become net zero carbon by 2050.

These ambitions, translated to the built environment, can only be achieved via the implementation of measures to reduce operational and embodied carbon of new buildings, upgrading existing buildings, the use of ambitious policies and crucially via a decarbonised grid..The built environment contributes to around 40% of the UK's total carbon footprint.

Based on UKGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings “A framework definition", a typical Cat A office’s building embodied carbon, after the first year of use, would be 75% of the total carbon, whilst the operational carbon would be around 25%.Although the operational carbon will accumulate overtime, a decarbonised grid will mean that the growth rate will flatten, and after 60 years the embodied carbon will still remain higher than operational carbon, as shown in Figure 2.