Ming Hu, FAIA, is associate dean for research, scholarship & creative work at the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture. He leads a pioneering effort to address carbon emissions in cities. To bring this to life, Hu collaborated with Siavash Ghorbany, a doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering at Notre Dame. Collectively, their efforts resulted in robust tools that break down carbon emissions to an extremely granular level. Their research only focuses on single buildings. They blast through materials, age, structural characteristics to learn how to better understand and reduce embodied carbon emissions.
The need for this project couldn’t be more timely as carbon emissions are increasing all around the world. Each new lane mile is fueling climate chaos and degrading air quality in cities. Interconnected crises Building emissions alone represent almost 40% of energy-related CO₂ emissions. Hu’s creative model employed a “bottom-up” approach. This approach combined data from over a million buildings across cities like Chicago and Indianapolis. The team ran over 350,000 simulated scenarios to find how urban areas can most strategically avoid emissions.
Focus on Renovation and Sustainability
Hu’s research emphasizes how new construction can create over 7,500 times the amount of CO₂ that renovation would produce. This difference has inspired him to campaign for renovation to be the more sustainable alternative. The study highlights that approaches focused on keeping current buildings in use longer will have the most impactful legacy in reducing embodied carbon emissions.
“Our goal is to develop tools that assess the carbon emission reduction and mitigation potentials of the built environment infrastructure—both through renovation and improved new construction. At the city scale, such a tool can offer data on building components and lifespans to support decision-making by policymakers and city planners,” – Ming Hu.
These results highlight the need for urban planning strategies that prioritize renovation and efficiency instead of pursuing new construction. Hu re-emphasized the point that new construction can introduce important uncertainty into emission outcomes. Smart investments can dramatically mitigate the dangers associated with carbon pollution.
Empowering Policymakers with Comprehensive Data
Here, the research carried out by Hu and Ghorbany seeks to arm city planners with actionable insights through granular data analysis. By employing advanced machine learning techniques, they have created tools capable of processing vast datasets and imagery to understand the intricacies of urban carbon emissions.
“Our findings show how detailed data and smart software can help empower city planners to make informed decisions for a greener future,” – Ming Hu.
This rich, new, and unprecedented dataset is a goldmine for evidence-based decision-making. It allows decision-makers to reliably understand the climate impact of their urban policies. The project focuses on immediate emission reductions and lays the groundwork for long-term sustainability initiatives within urban environments.
Case Studies: Evaluating Effectiveness in Major Cities
Chicago and Indianapolis case studies conducted by Hu and Ghorbany tested the new tool to evaluate the tool’s performance. Their goal was to replicate their results in the real world. These studies opened a window into the frequency and scale at which our existing buildings are being retrofitted. They further pointed out that massive emissions reductions are possible with smart urban development.
As a result, their research has broad and long-lasting implications. It would be groundbreaking in how it would change the way cities account for and address carbon emissions. The hope is that these tools will foster robust, data-driven strategies aimed at neutralizing carbon emissions across the United States.
Cities are grappling with worsening air quality exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We think the need for good, innovative solutions is more urgent now than ever! Hu’s creative method provides cities a compelling new avenue to tackle their carbon footprints while putting the needs of communities and sustainability at the forefront.