Plain English book tells story of embodied carbon

This article was originally published in issue 48 of Passive House Plus magazine. Want immediate access to all back issues and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €15, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge

The Story of Upfront Carbon: How a Life of Just Enough Offers a Way Out of the Climate Crisis, draws from Alter’s long career as an architect, developer, professor and green building writer to help building clients understand the importance of tackling embodied carbon.

Speaking on an episode of Zero Ambitions Podcast, Alter said: “What I’m trying to do is explain upfront carbon to a general audience. This is not a book that was written for architects. Clients have to know. This is a book for architects to give to their clients, so that their clients understand why upfront carbon, which is now the common term for embodied carbon, is so important.”

Speaking to Passive House Plus editor Jeff Colley, who co-hosts Zero Ambitions Podcast, Alter pointed out that upfront carbon isn’t just about buildings. “My Apple watch is 40kg of upfront carbon emissions that were put out making the watch. I want people to imagine: could you walk around with 40kg in your pocket? No, you couldn’t. But that’s what’s in the atmosphere. […] I try to go through strategies for reducing it. Ride an E-bike instead of a car. Live in smaller houses. Build with wood.”

As buildings are electrified and the grid decarbonises, upfront carbon becomes increasingly dominant compared to operating emissions, yet they are often ignored. “This is why the pursuit of sufficiency, or making and buying just what we need, has become a powerful strategy for tackling climate change,” said Alter.

By focusing on consumption rather than production, Alter’s book aims to demystify the complex web of cradle-to-grave life cycle assessments, demonstrating that the accepted concept of "embodied carbon" is just one part of the carbon accounting equation. The book puts forward the compelling rationale for carbon minimalism, arguing that only through frugality, simplicity, and materiality can we address global inequality and avoid climate catastrophe. It shows how big-picture thinking and a broad, systemic approach to determining a product's ecological footprint is indispensable to help guide the transition to degrowth and a zero carbon society.

Packed with concrete strategies for minimizing the upfront carbon produced by transportation, agriculture, consumer goods, the built environment, and more, this highly readable and accessible guide is required reading for a world on the brink.

Lloyd Alter’s episode is available alongside hundreds of engaging back episodes of Zero Ambitions Podcast on all major platforms. To order The Story of Upfront Carbon visit: tiny.cc/upfrontcarbon.