EcoSmart Stud 
We have covered Embodied Carbon before in The Build Series- The EcoSmart Stud Part 4, Embodied Carbon. That article looked at total embodied carbon of just the insulation elements used with the EcoSmart™ Stud wall system. The 1.06 tons of carbon emissions saved in this case is specifically in shipping of the EcoSmart™ Studs from the production location in Addy Washington to the distribution location here in Minneapolis. This is additional Embodied Carbon emissions savings. The trip of 1457 miles is a bit longer than the average trip of 1,000 miles for the typical construction stud but well under the farthest stocking trips made by semi truck. Let’s review the difference in Embodied and Operational Carbon..
Operational Carbon
Operation Carbon is the house in the lower right-hand corner of the picture below. Carbon emissions that are created by the burning of fossil fuels for powering, space heating, water heating, air conditioning for a home is Operational Carbon. Note that Operational Carbon is also related to energy and money also. Lowering a home’s carbon emissions can also save the homeowner money.
Embodied Carbon
Embodied carbon emissions are all the images left of the house. Embodied Carbon is the carbon emissions arising from the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of a product or building. It is a crucial factor in determining the environmental impact of construction materials.
While all wood construction studs sequester more Co2 emissions then is spent in the manufacturing process, there is still difference between solid construction studs and EcoSmart™ studs. With the first shipment EcoSmart™ Studs we can do real world comparisons on shipping Co2 emissions between solid construction studs and the lighter EcoSmart™ Studs. This shipment of EcoSmart™ Studs from the production facility saved 1.06 tons of Co2 emissions vs. shipping solid construction studs. The shipping weight was about 25% lighter then the weight of similar 2×6 solid construction studs.
Positive Impact on Residential Construction
Every unit of solid studs replaced by a unit of EcoSmart™ Studs will save both Operational and Embodied Carbon for new residential housing. Considering that is 1,000,000+ single family homes and 250,000 multi family homes built per year in just the US, the potential total carbon emissions savings could really add up!