Geospatial analysis and optimization of the incoming and stored CO2 emissions within the EPFL campus

All the projected scenarios agree on the immediate necessity of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide (CO2). This research proposes an analysis on the EPFL campus of all the potential reductions of CO2 emissions: energy refurbishment, the request of heat and cooling of the buildings, emissions deriving from commuting and business travel as well as the embedded emissions of the buildings through their Life-Cycle Assessment. Subsequently, compensation strategies have been evaluated: Vertical Greenery Systems, CO2 uptake from trees of the campus through an automated computing technique and Direct Air Capture technology. Together, all these contributions allow to significantly reduce the annual emissions of the campus, by up to 60 %, getting below the critical threshold of 1 ton of CO2/person/year.