Rethinking energy-efficient buildings, from the ground up
At our recent symposium, a multi-disciplinary slate of speakers explored the future of a low-carbon construction industry.
By Ruhani Chhabra and Collin Blinder
When you hear about energy-efficient buildings, what comes to mind: Solar-powered lights, grey water toilets, airtight insulation? What about carbon-capturing cement and building with algae?
On Monday, December 8, Bakar Labs for Energy and Materials convened experts from industry, academia and government to discuss the true carbon cost of construction, literally from the ground up. While the numbers were bleak, the overall message was hopeful — humanity can build smarter.
Vast amounts of carbon are emitted during the manufacturing of construction materials, such as steel beams and copper wire. The concrete industry, which supports everything from sidewalks to skyscrapers, accounts for 8% of the world’s carbon emissions. If the concrete industry were a nation, it would be the world’s third-largest emitter! Add in the tons of metal, wood and chemicals used in buildings, and you have a global construction industry reliant on high-emitting manufacturing.
However, a common thread throughout the symposium was that humanity can rise to the challenge of creating sustainable buildings. Bruce King — founder of BuildWell.site, a nonprofit drawing awareness to low-carbon engineering — kicked the day off with a rallying keynote. King pointed out that we already have access to alternative low-carbon building materials, such as hay and algae. He also explained that carbon can be harvested from the environment and turned into cement, pulling pollution from the atmosphere.
King called on engineers and scientists to develop innovative ways to draw down the Earth’s existing carbon overabundance while still building new infrastructure. “Lower your carbon footprint, but what’s way more important is to have a big old green handprint in whatever way that you can,” he told the audience.
Fostering innovation and community
One of our goals at Bakar Labs for Energy and Materials is to foster new approaches to building sustainable infrastructure. We help startups navigate their industries’ complex ecosystems and bring their ideas to market.
”We’re focused on creating pathways for researchers and entrepreneurs to engage with industry in ways that accelerate learning and impact,” said Shilpi Kumar, Director of Partnerships at Bakar Labs for Energy and Materials. “When we convene around a topic and learn from each other, there is potential for connections to be made and meaningful progress.”
This symposium — organized jointly by a committee including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Terner Center, Terner Labs, Center for Built Environment and Turner Construction — provided an opportunity to hear from experts across disciplines and build professional networks.
“Our mission is to empower scientists to grow transformative ideas within and then beyond the laboratory, enabled by working with partners across the private and public sectors,” said David Schaffer, director of Bakar Labs and a UC Berkeley professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. “Events like this, where we have engineers and government leaders sharing ideas with entrepreneurs and scientists, embody that mission. We’re not just building an incubator, we’re helping build a community.”
No silver bullets, no problem
Matt Roberts, a researcher at UC Berkeley’s Center for the Built Environment, presented on the work his team is doing to calculate the carbon cost of a building’s lifecycle. Roberts explained that decarbonizing the construction industry requires collaboration between everyone involved in the building process, including manufacturers, transportation companies, builders and regulators.
Rather than framing this broad coalition-building as an insurmountable hurdle, Roberts described it as an abundance of opportunities. “The fact that there isn’t a silver bullet is great, because everybody has a role to play in industrial decarbonization,” he said.
Industry-tested strategies
Another theme of the afternoon was the impact of data, modular construction, and financial incentives on the next generation of climate-resilient buildings. Speakers from three companies — Cloud Apartments, iMod and Domatic — shared their approach to reducing the carbon footprint of construction. Much of that discussion focused on shifting key work offsite before components ever reach a building site.
Apoorva Pasricha, CEO of Cloud Apartments, described how installing mechanical and electrical systems in advance can dramatically cut costs and make climate-friendly housing more feasible in expensive markets. Such reimagining of the supply chain can decrease costs tenfold, from $30 thousand per unit down to around $3 thousand.
That point ultimately raised a broader question: Even if climate-friendly approaches already exist, how do builders make informed choices about which ones actually reduce emissions? “We invest a lot of time and energy gathering data,” said Brett Stuckey of Turner Construction. “It’s an essential part of the climate process. You have to prove what you’re reducing.” Stuckey emphasized that carbon accounting is becoming just as central to construction decisions as cost and schedule.
LEEDing by example
In 2028, we will be moving to our new home on the west side of campus, a 145,000 square foot building, providing startups with both lab and office space. In keeping with our mission to solve challenges of energy efficiency in modern infrastructure, we ensured our building was designed to reduce energy use.
Rudy Letsche, a project architect at Gensler, described how the architectural firm tackled the challenge of reducing energy use in a building containing ample laboratory space.
”Lab buildings are very special,” Letsche said. “They’re very energy-intensive. What makes them energy intensive is their high ventilation rates, especially chemistry.”
Gensler applied a number of strategies to reduce the building’s energy cost, including moving lab space to the building’s south side to optimize ventilation efficiency through solar heating. The result is a building requiring 26% less energy than expected from a laboratory facility.
Even before we move into our new facility, Bakar Labs has provided a meeting place for communities focused on innovation in the fields of energy and sustainability. On November 12, we hosted the Berkeley Climate Open House, UC Berkeley’s first all-campus climate and energy event. Located at the western edge of campus, at the interface between the university and community, we envision our new building as a venue for industry, academia and government to chart a path towards energy and resource innovation.
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