A Calibrated Building Energy Simulation-Driven Framework for Balancing Embodied and Operational Carbon in the Transition to Zero-Emission Buildings

Educational buildings account for approximately 17% of the building sector’s energy consumption, making them critical for zero-emission building (ZEB) strategies. With students spending over 50% of their time indoors, life-cycle carbon assessments and targeted retrofitting are essential for realizing UN sustainability goals on campuses. This study develops a comprehensive life-cycle carbon assessment framework using a Calibrated Building Energy Simulation to simultaneously evaluate embodied and operational carbon emissions in campus facilities. This research evaluates two distinct university buildings for analysis: a historical 1970 educational building in Cosenza, Italy (Mediterranean climate) and a modern 2009 building in Ankara, Türkiye (semi-arid/continental climate). To minimize the total carbon footprint, seven distinct retrofitting scenarios are systematically simulated and compared: adding photovoltaic (PV) panels, integrating solar films on windows, applying internal and external insulations, implementing green wall applications, applying psychological-adaptive HVAC control and decreasing the heating set-point temperature. Results indicate that psychological-adaptive HVAC control is the most effective, achieving approximately 19.3% operational carbon savings across both cases with a low embodied carbon penalty. Conversely, the green wall application was the least effective, with a carbon payback period of 53.55 years. Ultimately, this study provides actionable engineering pathways for transforming campus buildings into net-zero emission educational facilities.