Reducing carbon emissions from

structural building materials – the

Malaysian context

rev 00 © 2021 ohr engineering

Yasotha Chetty
Director, ohr

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rev 00 © 2021 ohr engineering
 What is embodied carbon

Lifetime/ total
carbon

Embodied Operational
carbon carbon

Emissions cause by extraction, The carbon

manufacture, transportation, associated with operation (heating,
assembly, maintenance, replacement, cooling, powering, providing water etc)
deconstruction, disposal and end of
life aspects
of the materials and systems that
make up a building

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 How much embodied carbon is in structural building materials

Global CO2 emissions The 26% is an

Buildings average figure
industry:
For a specific
Embodied
carbon, 26% building, depending
on the type of
Buildings Buildings building, this can be
industry, industry: 30-70%*
38% Operational *UKGBC
carbon, 74%
Other
industries,
62% Other
materials,
40% Structural
Adapted from 2020 Global status report for buildings and
materials,
construction, Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, UNEP 60%

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 How much embodied carbon is in structural building materials

25 22.83 23.29 Cement consumption in

21.05 21.65
19.15 Malaysia between 2011 to
20 17.95 2016 (MT)
15
Adapted from Market
10 review of building materials
in the construction industry
5 under Competition Act
2010, Malaysian
0 Competition Commission,
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

21.65MT of cement
produces about
19.5MTCO2
Which is about 9.5% of Malaysia’s* carbon emissions for 2016
* Worldbank data. 228.64MT.

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The considerations for reducing embodied carbon impacts of structural
building materials

Selecting
Reusing material with
materials lower embodied
carbon

Designing out
Leaner design
waste

Source: Cutting carbon in construction projects, WRAP UK

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The considerations for reducing embodied carbon impacts of structural
building materials

31 storey residential tower

on a 4-storey podium and 2
levels of basement

Structural optimisation for

the tower

Total floor area: 29,020m2

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 The considerations for reducing embodied carbon impacts of structural
building materials

Structural system Concrete Steel Embodied

(T) (T) carbon
(TCO2e)
Original design Beam and slab 43,200 1,670 9,624

Optimised design Flat slab 32,834 1,001 6,898

Reduction in embodied carbon from the optimised design 28%

Designing waste Lean design

out =
Lesser material
=
Lesser embodied carbon

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 The considerations for reducing embodied carbon impacts of structural
building materials

Embodied Reduction
carbon
(TCO2e)
Original design with 0% cement replacement 9,624 Baseline

Optimised design with 0% cement replacement 6,898 28%

Optimised design with 30% cement replacement 5,489 43%

Optimised design with 40% cement replacement 5,019 48%

Optimised design with 50% cement replacement 4,550 53%

Optimised design with 70% cement replacement 3,610 62%

Selecting material with lower embodied carbon

Calculated using Inventory of energy and carbon (ICE) database V3.0, University of Bath, UK. Cement
replacement consist of a blend of 50% GGBS and 50% PFA. 20km travel distance for concrete delivery

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 The considerations for reducing embodied carbon impacts of structural
building materials

Selecting material with lower embodied carbon

Structural timber

Dubbed as the material of the 21st

century

About 20-60% lesser embodied carbon

compared with reinforced concrete

And there is sequestered carbon: The

removal of CO2 from
the atmosphere via photosynthesis, and
Mjøsa Tower, Norway. 18 storeys, 85.4m.Completed 2019. the temporary storage of this carbon
Image source: CNN within the timber
-1.64kgCO2e/kg

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 The considerations for reducing embodied carbon impacts of structural
building materials

Reusing materials

Recycled aggregates
Recycled concrete aggregates

Image source: specifyconcrete.org

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 The considerations for reducing embodied carbon impacts of structural
building materials

So why aren’t more of the considerations applied in Malaysia?

Perception (and reality for some matters) that there are no

commercial benefits

Absence of implementation incentives that are of meaningful

commercial value

Absence of mandatory policies

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 The considerations for reducing embodied carbon impacts of structural
building materials

So why aren’t more of the considerations applied in Malaysia?

▪ Lean design
▪ Requires investment in decent consulting engineering fees
▪ Optimisation should not be done at tender/ construction stage but from the
start of design stage
▪ Proprietary solutions could cost more than conventional materials/ solutions

▪ Designing out waste

▪ There is a general misconception that beam and post systems are cheaper
than flat slabs

▪ Cement replacement
▪ Misconception that concrete mix with cement replacement could be more
expensive, affect strength and increase the construction programme

rev 00 © 2021 ohr engineering

 The considerations for reducing embodied carbon impacts of structural
building materials

So why aren’t more of the considerations applied in Malaysia?

▪ Reusing materials
▪ Absence of policy, local guidelines, awareness and material availability for
the use of recycled aggregates

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GBI and UBBL

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 How are embodied impacts of structural materials treated in GBI?

GBI: Green Building Index. Malaysia’s environmental rating scheme

for buildings

Only 3 - 6% of the total score is for the choice of

building materials and solutions

And this is not explicitly for structural materials.

On a project, the options that have the least
commercial impact take precedence over
structural materials and solutions

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 How are embodied impacts of structural materials treated in GBI?

Use of recycled building material 2% max

Use of sustainable timber 1-2% max*

Use of IBS systems 0-2% max*

* Depending on the type of built: Residential,

non-residential etc

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 The use of structural timber in Malaysia

The current UBBL does not allow timber

structures*

Amendments to allow the use are currently in

progress, but fire testing is likely required for
each project – an expensive exercise that would
not encourage industry uptake

* By-law 142 and 143

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 The use of structural timber in Malaysia

Does each timber structure require fire testing?

No, timber as a structural material has well

established globally and has a well-defined code
for structural fire design that can be used for
Malaysia

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Policies and regulations

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 Are there any mandatory requirements or incentives?

Exemption of CIBD Levy* for projects with >50%

IBS score
* 0.125% of total construction cost

Some local councils make it mandatory for GBI

accreditation for certain types of building and a
certain percentage of IBS usage
But these can be achieved without involving
structural materials and solutions

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Regulation changes, new policies and mandatory requirements to be
considered

Policies
+
Mandatory
requirements

Commercial
Drivers

rev 00 © 2021 ohr engineering

Regulation changes, new policies and mandatory requirements to be
considered

Policies
+
Mandatory
requirements

Commercial
Drivers

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 Regulation changes, new policies and mandatory requirements to be
considered

Incentivise the reduction of embodied carbon

in structural building materials* or implement
mandatory requirements

• The incentives need to be of real commercial value for there to be

industry uptake

- Use of cement replacement

- Use low carbon materials and solutions
- Production and use of recycled aggregates
- Demonstration of the designing out of wastes
- Demonstration of lean design (from the start of design stage)
- Reuse of existing buildings

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 Regulation changes, new policies and mandatory requirements to be
considered

Allocate more points in the GBI for reducing

embodied carbon impacts of structural
building materials

And/ Or

Have an independent but parallel

assessment framework specifically for
embodied carbon

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 Regulation changes, new policies and mandatory requirements to be
considered

Structural timber

Promote the use of structural timber through

policies that enable (like Singapore did) and
incentivise the use

Invest in researching fast-growing species that

can be used for structural purposes and promote
the planting of these

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 Regulation changes, new policies and mandatory requirements to be
considered

Structural timber

Promote fabrication of structural timber

(including engineered timber) for local use

Invest in developing the skills needed for design,

fabrication and construction

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