ClarkDietrich, North America’s largest manufacturer of cold-formed steel framing (CFS) products and a Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA) member, has launched a new digital tool to estimate the embodied carbon of structural and nonstructural steel-framed wall assemblies. The Embodied Carbon Calculator, available free on ClarkDietrich’s website, allows architects, specifiers and contractors to compare the embodied carbon of steel framing options, including standard and low-embodied-carbon steel.
“With this calculator, it’s now easier and more accessible for sustainability-focused teams to evaluate reduction goals against the types of framing available (LEC vs. standard), and make purchasing decisions based on third-party certified EPD data,” said Adam Shoemaker, business development director for ClarkDietrich.
Users enter wall dimensions and framing parameters (stud spacing, member size, bracing, and track) to calculate total steel weight. The calculator converts steel weight into embodied carbon, expressed as Global Warming Potential. It reports the differences between standard framing and low-embodied-carbon framing in kilograms of CO₂e per metric ton of steel and as percentage reductions.
The calculator reports emissions equivalencies derived from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data to contextualize carbon reductions. For example, 100,000 kg of CO₂e corresponds to the emissions associated with approximately 11,000 gallons of gasoline.
The Embodied Carbon Calculator is available through ClarkDietrich’s iTools platform at itools.clarkdietrich.com
Read the ClarkDietrich news release.
About ClarkDietrichClarkDietrich® is the leading manufacturer of a full line of drywall studs and accessories, structural studs and joists, metal lath and accessories, shaft wall studs and track, interior and exterior finishing products, and connectors and accessories for commercial and residential construction. Quality manufacturing, a full-line offering, national distribution, engineering services and responsive customer service position ClarkDietrich as the largest manufacturer of cold-formed steel framing in North America.
Clarkwestern Dietrich Building Systems is a 75/25 joint venture with Marubeni-Itochu Steel America Inc. (MISA) and Worthington Enterprises, Inc.
For more information, visit clarkdietrich.com.
Additional Resources
- ClarkDietrich Cuts Emissions to Help Builders Procure Lower-Carbon Products
- How to Specify Low Embodied Carbon Steel Framing for Construction Projects
- ClarkDietrich’s Brian Panuccio Shares Insights on Leadership, Innovation and Market Outlook on “If Walls Could Talk”