There has been lots of exciting movement around embodied carbon and policy in the past few months! One of the CLF’s major goals is to advance government and corporate policy to address embodied carbon emissions. The CLF policy team has been organizing and participating in events as well as producing new resources for stakeholders working in this space. 

Reducing embodied carbon in buildings also depends on the decarbonization of the industrial sector, which requires new strategies to address the unique challenges of carbon-intensive manufacturing processes. In June, in collaboration with the Clean Energy Transition Institute, Washington BlueGreen Alliance, and SEI-US, we presented the Building Washington’s Clean Materials Manufacturing Economy Summit, a two-day gathering of policymakers, labor leaders, industry representatives, and environmental advocates focused on building a shared vision for making the Evergreen State a global leader in clean materials manufacturing. This summit served to grow awareness around this issue, share resources, and collaborate on developing a long-term Washington clean materials manufacturing strategy.

Additionally, three CLF staff had the wonderful opportunity to attend the ClimateWorks Buy Clean Network Convening in July which took place in Washington D.C. The convening brought together individuals and organizations working on procurement policies, advocacy, and standards. Some highlights were the lessons learned from State policy implementation, an update from the federal Buy Clean Taskforce, and strategizing on future approaches and activities to support clean procurement in an equitable and just way.

Finally, we released a new resource called the Embodied Carbon Policy Educational Series. The Series is designed for CLF Regional Hubs to use in hosting educational events around embodied carbon policy types, but this resource can be used by all types of stakeholders interested in embodied carbon and policy. We want to highlight six videos detailing different policy areas which can be used as a resource to learn more about embodied carbon and policies including case studies from existing contexts. We hope this resource will be useful in growing awareness around how embodied carbon can be addressed from a policy context.

Warm regards,

Megan

A resource designed to empower CLF Regional Hubs to play a role as local knowledge leaders related to policy opportunities

​by Megan Kalsman, Policy Researcher for the Carbon Leadership Forum

The CLF is excited to share a new resource called the Embodied Carbon Policy Educational Series! The Series is designed for CLF Regional Hubs to use in hosting educational virtual or in person events around embodied carbon policy types.

Policymakers are taking the lead from building industry practices, tools, and projects to begin implementing a variety of policies to reduce embodied carbon on government-funded and private sector projects. The CLF Regional Hubs are uniquely positioned to act as local knowledge leaders related to embodied carbon, providing technical guidance to climate policy organizations or agencies and identifying opportunities for new policies. The training Series acts as a way to explore core embodied carbon policy concepts and frameworks, introduce case studies from existing policies, and instigate conversations about the unique regional or local policy context for each Hub.

Topics 

1. Introduction to the Embodied Carbon Policy Landscape
2. Climate Action Plans
3. Procurement Policies (Buy Clean)
4. Building Codes
5. Zoning and City Incentive Programs
6. Reuse and Deconstruction

Resources accompanying each topic are; introductory video recordings, accompanying slide deck, discussion activity guide, and speaker suggestions. Visit this webpage for a set of resources to assist in training session planning. We are looking forward to great discussions and ideas that come out of these sessions.

The Carbon Leadership Forum seeks applicants for several new staff positions

The Carbon Leadership Forum is hiring for several new positions that will support our mission to reduce embodied carbon reductions in the built environment, including for a new research initiative from the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program, for which CLF will investigate the science and methods of carbon drawdown and storage, and develop a robust LCA framework and ecosystem of tools that can support the flow of data on novel materials into robust, comparative Whole Building Life Cycle Analysis (WBLCA) tools.

• Postdoctoral Scholar: Computational Methods for LCA Tools Development
• Buildings and Material Researcher (Research Engineer 2)
• Buildings and Material Researcher (Research Engineer 3)
• Buildings and Material Researcher (Research Engineer 4) 
• Research Coordinator 
• Postdoctoral Scholar: LCA Data analyst

Take a look at the details for all of our open and upcoming titles on our careers page.

Time to Register for the September 15 Quarterly Forum!

As of the first week of August, 48 MEP firms have signed the Commitment, along with 23 additional organizations signalling their support, including architectural, construction, and structural engineering firms, and NGOs such as the AIA, Architecture 2030, and the Passive House Network. 

MEP 2040 signatories are publicly pledging their firms to decarbonize MEP systems, and commiting themselves and their firms to collective action, supported by transparent data, rigorous science, careful engineering, and thoughtful collaboration.

View recording of the June Quarterly Forum on the MEP 2040 website.

Please also share via social media the short Pitch for MEP 2040! created by members of the MEP 2040 Steering Committee.

The third Quarterly Forum will be held on Thursday, September 15. Please register in advance for this essential meeting. The Forum will feature a panel discussion by Owners, discussing their role in helping develop a market for low-carbon MEP systems:

• How are Owners approaching “Whole Life Carbon”? Role of ESG’s?
• What role do MEP systems play in Embodied Carbon accounting?
• How can Owners best influence their Supply Chains?  In RFP’s?
• What Tools are being used? What Guidance is emerging?
• What do Owners need from their Project Teams?

Harnessing data, automation, and insights to improve the impact of design and build decisions

by Joe Speicher, head of ESG and Impact, Autodesk

It's hard to pin down a specific point in time when demand for carbon management solutions expanded from a small crest to a tidal wave. And I’m not sure we’ve seen the peak yet. Whether it’s forthcoming regulations, new technologies that enable connected datasets or just the realization that it’s all hands on deck to mitigate climate change – It’s been a slow but powerful build that has now reached a fever pitch. Part of my job is to meet with senior leaders from companies using our technology. Many of them now count sustainability as a top business priority - and knowing that we can help them achieve their sustainability goals gets me out of bed in the morning.

Our technology spans many industries – from architecture, engineering, and construction, to manufacturing, to media and entertainment. Autodesk has an incredible opportunity to enable these industries to drive change and increase positive impact. By providing smarter tools and technology that measure carbon within their work and across the industry, our customers can make better, data-driven decisions to manage and reduce carbon emissions. This is especially true for the architecture and construction industries, which demand carbon-intensive raw materials for building construction. Our customers are working to make net-zero energy buildings, reduce embodied carbon, decrease construction waste, and develop smart and sustainable cities. Our job is to make it easier for them to do so – and here’s how we do it.