Ecobuild Conference: Reducing the Carbon Footprint

As greenhouse gases and global warming have grown to become hot topics at the dinner table, the term carbon footprint has yet to put its foot down as a widely recognized concept.

Carbon footprint is the measure of the impact that human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases released into the air.

Harvey Bryan, a professor Arizona State University, recommends calculating the carbon footprint of specific activities to measure the amount of carbon dioxide that they produce. Once the footprint is calculated, the behavior or activity can be modified to reduce that footprint and reduce the negative impact on the environment.

Businesses create approximately 48 percent of carbon emissions in the United States, according to Bryan.

“The most important aspect of what’s happening in carbon is the industrial process,” Bryan says.

The building sector is the major source of demand for energy and materials that produce by-product greenhouse gases, according to Bryan. Stabilizing and reversing emissions in this sector is key to limiting future global warming, he says.

“There are all sorts of emissions and resource-use effects in the process of manufacturing, including the transportation of products,” Bryan says. “Fossil fuel combustion is by far the most significant greenhouse gas we produce.”

Wayne Trustee, of the Athena Institute, suggests working toward carbon-neutral buildings. “It’s easier to do in residential than in commercial buildings, but we can focus on renewable energy to help,” Trustee says.