The construction industry accounts for approximately 40% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, leading to excessive resource consumption and carbon footprints. Embodied carbon in the built environment accelerates climate change and results in various negative consequences, including resource depletion, ecosystem degradation, and public health problems. Therefore, construction companies, architects, and engineers need to make efforts to reduce embodied carbon emissions and implement sustainable building practices.

As part of these efforts, the use of cost-effective and user-friendly cost estimation and budgeting software is gaining attention. These software solutions facilitate accurate estimation and cost calculation for materials, labor, and equipment in construction projects, contributing to the assessment and reduction of embodied carbon emissions.

Traditionally, construction companies have relied on spreadsheet programs like Excel for cost estimation and budgeting tasks. However, these manual methods have several drawbacks. First, there is a lack of data consistency, as different individuals may use different formats and items. Second, numerous input items make it prone to errors and time-consuming for review and approval. Most importantly, information on the carbon footprint of materials, labor, and equipment is often missing, making it difficult to accurately assess embodied carbon emissions.

In contrast, modern cost estimation and budgeting software can address these issues. They provide standardized formats and items to ensure consistency and utilize automatic calculation functions to minimize errors. They also enable real-time sharing, review, and analysis, leading to increased efficiency. Most importantly, they can accurately assess the total embodied carbon emissions of a project by creating a database of carbon emission coefficients for each material, equipment, and labor.

For example, Japanese construction company Zerox (ゼロック) offers a solution called 'One Click LCA.' This solution calculates embodied carbon and suggests mitigation measures based on a database of carbon emission data for building materials and construction methods from the design stage. This enables the selection of designs and materials with lower carbon footprints, minimizing carbon emissions throughout the building's lifecycle.

Cost estimation and budgeting software also play a significant role in improving the productivity and profitability of construction companies. Data integration and automation lead to increased efficiency and reduced labor waste. Cost tracking and control throughout the project are facilitated, improving budget management. These benefits contribute to enhanced competitiveness for construction companies.

Global architectural solution companies, such as Autodesk, are also launching integrated cost estimation and budgeting solutions that are linked with BIM (Building Information Modeling). These solutions enable accurate cost calculations without omissions by linking design data and can reflect cost fluctuations due to changes in construction processes and materials in real time.

Efficient and environmentally friendly construction is essential to reduce carbon emissions in the built environment. The adoption of cost-effective cost estimation and budgeting software can be the first step. Construction companies that adopt these solutions can expect various benefits, including embodied carbon assessment and mitigation, cost reduction, and increased productivity. Ultimately, it will contribute to creating a path towards sustainable construction.