by Meghan Byrne, Engagement & Communications Lead, Carbon Leadership Forum

CLF has an amazing community of like-minded individuals and organizations that are all working towards the same goal – lowering embodied carbon emissions in the building industry. We are very grateful for all of the ideas, support, and energy that our network brings – and we want to know how we can continue to support that energy. 

Our network has grown exponentially over the last few years – CLF now has over 7,200 LinkedIn followers, nearly 4,000 Online Community users, 30 Regional Hubs, 52 organizations in the NGO-Governmental Roundtable on embodied carbon, 66 engineering firms and 33 supporting organizations for the of MEP 2040 Commitment, 106 structural engineering firms signing the SE 2050 Commitment, 57 CLF Sponsors, and many other individuals who engage with and support CLFs work. 

The growth of the CLF community has reflected a shift in the goals and priorities within each initiative. On the Online Community, we’ve seen conversations go from general embodied carbon education to collaborative and intersectional discussions on a wide range of topics. The NGO Roundtable has expanded to the “NGO/Governmental Roundtable” as more government agencies are engaging with embodied carbon topics and policies. The Regional Hubs have shifted from a focus on general education towards deep dives on specific embodied carbon  topics and action oriented engagement. With these changes, we want to ensure that we are providing the support and guidance needed to further the work that all of our community members are doing. 

So, let us know what you think as a CLF member – What topics are on your embodied carbon wishlist? What questions keep you up at night that CLF could provide guidance on? How connected do you feel to the larger CLF community?  You can provide feedback and thoughts using the link below to fill out our quick Members Survey. We thank you in advance for taking the time to engage with us. If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. 

Thank you again to all of our members and your embodied carbon leadership!

All the best,

Meghan

We need your help!

CLF wants to hear from our members on how we can better support the work you all do! This survey will take you about 5 minutes. Thank you in advance for completing the survey. We appreciate all the work you do to advance building decarbonization, and your invaluable support for the CLF. 

The Carbon Leadership Forum seeks applicants for a new staff position as embodied carbon researcher

The Carbon Leadership Forum is hiring a researcher who will support our embodied carbon research and resource development. We are seeking candidates with experience in the building industry and life cycle analysis. 

Decarbonizing the Building Envelope

By Rachel Stern
Executive Director, Cellulose Insulation Manufacturers Association

For over three decades, the Cellulose Insulation Manufacturers Association (CIMA) has been promoting naturally better insulation. Cellulose insulation is the lowest embodied carbon building material commercially available. It is also the only form of (widely available) insulation that stores carbon in the product itself. Loose-fill cellulose insulation is composed of up to 85% recycled newsprint and cardboard, higher than almost any other commonly used building material available on the market. Other elements in cellulose insulation include chemicals like boric acid, which is used as an insecticide and flame retardant, providing an effective one-hour fire rating. To highlight the carbon-storing potential of cellulose insulation compared with fiberglass:

• Insulating a typical 2,356 sq ft home with fiberglass insulation is expected to generate 2-3 tons of CO2 emissions associated with the production of fiberglass.
• Building the same structure with cellulose insulation would result in storing 5-6x the equivalent of tons of CO2 in the structure itself.
• The net swing in carbon emissions is estimated at 7-9 tons of CO2 per single-family home.

In 2022, CIMA members sequestered over 292,000 tons of carbon.

Comprehensive Roadmap for Embodied Carbon Action

Since its founding in 2011, the Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF) has been driving research to better understand the carbon impacts of materials used in buildings and infrastructure. The CLF has released its 2023-2026 Strategic Plan, outlining critical goals and strategies that that the organization believes will enable scaled action to reduce embodied carbon from buildings and infrastructure.  

The CLF's Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment Benchmark Study V2: Official Launch of Phases 2-3

The CLF is pleased to announce the launch of the next two phases of CLF Benchmark Study V2. This year we will be developing the “California Total Carbon Report” (phase 2) which will focus on the whole-life carbon impacts of buildings in California, including both operational and embodied carbon emissions. Concurrently, the CLF will be gathering data and conducting stakeholder engagement to support our larger “North American Benchmark and Public Database” (phase 3) which will continue through 2024 and lead to updated embodied carbon benchmarks for North America.

We’ve recorded a full project overview that describes the entire project and each individual effort in more detail. This 15-minute recording also outlines the ways we will be conducting stakeholder engagement in the coming weeks and future project efforts to be aware of.