A Global Construction Embodied Energy Emission Index (CEEEI): A Data-Driven Assessment of Carbon and Energy Efficiency Across 148 Countries (2000–2023)

This study establishes the Construction Embodied Energy and Emissions Index (CEEEI) to assess the comprehensive environmental impacts of construction work in 148 countries from 2000 to 2023. The index combines data on material, energy, and carbon intensity from four international open databases. The three latent components derived from Principal Component Analysis (PCA) account for 72.1% of the total variance. They are categorized into the following factors: Economic–Urban Development, Carbon Governance, Industrial Carbon and Material Intensity, and Energy Source and Decarbonization Structure. The CEEEI adjusted (CEEEIadj) evaluates countries based on their embodied efficiency, revealing that developed nations, including the UK, Netherlands, and Sweden, have the lowest embodied emissions, whereas fast-urbanizing, fossil-dependent countries perform poorly. The regression analysis shows that GDP per capita, urbanization rates, and fossil energy consumption ratios are vital determinants of embodied intensity. This study offers a reproducible open-data system that enables construction organizations worldwide to develop decarbonization policies.