The construction industry stands at a critical crossroads in addressing climate change, with structural systems representing the single largest contributor to building embodied carbon. While operational carbon emissions have received substantial attention through energy codes and efficiency improvements, embodied carbon has emerged as an equally urgent concern. As buildings become more energy efficient, the relative importance of embodied carbon increases, with some high-performance buildings now exhibiting embodied carbon contributions exceeding 50 percent of total lifecycle emissions. This comprehensive course introduces structural engineers, architects, and construction professionals to evidence-based strategies for reducing carbon emissions through thoughtful structural design decisions.

By completing this course, you will gain practical insights into how material selection, structural system choices, and design optimization approaches can achieve significant environmental benefits while maintaining structural performance and economic viability. Research by the Carbon Leadership Forum has documented embodied carbon variations of 30 to 50 percent between best and worst performing structural system alternatives for equivalent buildings. Concrete production contributes approximately 8 percent of global CO2 emissions, while steel production contributes approximately 7 percent, making structural engineering decisions among the most consequential for climate mitigation in the built environment.

This course bridges technical carbon accounting concepts with practical design applications, examining lifecycle assessment fundamentals, low-carbon concrete strategies using supplementary cementitious materials and optimized mix designs, steel carbon reduction through specification and design optimization, mass timber systems including biogenic carbon accounting and hybrid structures, and structural system selection frameworks that balance carbon performance with traditional engineering criteria. Whether you are a structural engineer, architect, facility manager, or construction professional, this course will equip you with the knowledge needed to achieve meaningful embodied carbon reductions while maintaining structural performance and project economics

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the carbon footprint characteristics of primary structural materials including concrete, steel, and timber, and describe the relative contribution of structural systems to building embodied carbon compared to other building components.
• Apply lifecycle assessment fundamentals including EN 15978 boundary definitions, product stage emissions dominance, and Environmental Product Declaration data interpretation for structural carbon calculations.
• Describe supplementary cementitious materials including fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag, and silica fume, and specify appropriate replacement rates and applications for carbon reduction in structural concrete.
• Implement Portland limestone cement and optimized mix design strategies including performance-based specifications to achieve concrete carbon reductions of 15 to 30 percent while maintaining structural performance.
• Compare blast furnace and electric arc furnace steel production routes, explain the carbon implications of recycled content and regional sourcing, and specify low-carbon steel using EPD-based procurement requirements.
• Apply design optimization strategies for steel structures including framing layout optimization and connection design approaches that achieve 15 to 25 percent material reduction compared to conventional designs.
• Explain biogenic carbon fundamentals for timber construction including carbon storage quantification, sustainable forest management requirements, and appropriate accounting boundaries for mass timber carbon benefits.
• Describe mass timber products including cross-laminated timber and glued laminated timber, and evaluate hybrid structural systems combining timber with concrete or steel for optimized carbon performance.
• Apply multi-criteria decision frameworks for carbon-conscious structural system selection that balance carbon performance with structural adequacy, constructability, cost, schedule, and durability requirements.
• Identify emerging low-carbon technologies including carbon capture utilization, geopolymer cements, green hydrogen steel, and advanced composites, and evaluate policy developments including Buy Clean requirements and carbon pricing mechanisms shaping future practice.