Monthly News — August 2024

School’s Out, Sustainability's In: Empowering Young Minds

by Meghan Byrne
Engagement and Communications Lead, CLF

As summer unfolds and students take a break from their studies, it's a great time to think about how we can bring the next generation of sustainability leaders into our mission to reduce embodied carbon. The energy and passion students have can really drive change in our industry, and it’s important that we support them on their journey. Our CLF community is in a unique spot to help students become embodied carbon leaders.

Read Meghan's Essay

Bethany Whitehurst

by Bethany Whitehurst PE, SE
Structural Engineer, Clark Nexsen

I am the SE 2050 Embodied Carbon Champion for Clark Nexsen. My biggest contribution to reducing embodied carbon emissions is advocacy. I’m doing this by collaborating with groups outside of our company. I started by forming the Sustainable Design Committee with the Structural Engineers Association of North Carolina (SEA of NC). We’ve gained members through giving presentations to SEA of NC and reaching out to SE 2050 Signatory Firms with offices in our state.

Read Bethany's Essay

11th Quarterly Forum: Company Decarbonization Plans

Thursday, October 3, 2024 at 11AM EDT

The MEP 2040 Commitment invited signatories to establish a company plan to reduce operational and embodied carbon across MEP systems on all projects, targeting zero by 2040.

Several signatories have shared their plans through the MEP 2040 website. Representatives of some of these organizations will provide a quick recap of their Plan, and then join a panel moderated by the Steering Committee’s in-house Wizard, Kim Shinn, taking your questions on how your firm can develop your own plan.

Roadway Infrastructure Toolkit

Building and operating the wide network of transportation infrastructure requires significant flows of energy and material resources which highlights the critical role of transportation agencies in addressing the climate change impacts of building these massive forms of our built environment.

The CLF Embodied Carbon Toolkit for Roadway Infrastructure in three parts provides an overview of the sources of greenhouse gas emissions from building roadways, explains its accounting methodology, and summarizes key strategies to reduce those emissions.

Explore the Toolkit

Walter P Moore: Fresh Air and Low Embodied Carbon in Houston!

Article by Dirk Kestner
Principal and Director of Sustainable Design at Walter P Moore

How Houston, Texas, lives, works, and plays has forever changed with the design and construction of 1550 on the Green. Located in Houston’s Central Business District, this $225 million, 28-story, 375,000-sf development provides its Class-A commercial tenants with several amenities, scenic views, and a state-of-the-art sustainable fresh airflow system. The structure features a tenant-only rooftop conference center, outdoor space on multiple floors, a fitness center designed by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, and top-of-the-line security features.

Read about 1550 on the Green

Reducing Embodied Carbon in Building Systems: From Concept to Practice

by Ghina Annan,
Associate and Decarbonization Business Lead at Stantec

The impact of MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing) systems on a building’s embodied carbon is substantial, accounting for 15% to 50% throughout the building’s lifespan. This impact can rise to 70% or more in commercial buildings undergoing retrofits, as highlighted in CLF’s tenant fit-out study.

Reducing embodied carbon and optimizing MEP systems requires a strong system- thinking framework, a clear roadmap with stretch targets, and a thorough business case analysis to understand the return on investment. Collaboration between manufacturers, designers, developers, researchers, investors, and involved stakeholders is essential to leverage rapid technological advancements for whole-life carbon reduction.

Read Ghina's Essay

For Suppliers and Contractors: Catch the Wave: Low Embodied Carbon Construction Materials Taking Off

The market for low embodied carbon (LEC) construction materials is taking off! The federal government, states, and the private sector are investing billions of dollars and creating demand for the next generation of building materials.

Third Way invites you to a webinar on August 15th from 1:00-2:30 PM ET where you will hear about this growing market and how suppliers and general contractors can participate. The program will discuss how companies can navigate the procurement policies, technical support programs, and investment opportunities that will help them take advantage of this evolving landscape.

The webinar will include a keynote address and a presentation from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on available tools and resources. A panel discussion with experts from Google, the GSA Administration, and the Colorado Department of Transportation will dive into their first-hand experience and contributions to the market. There will also be a technology demonstration of BuiltCold—a new tool that provides supplier matches, technical support, and project insights for this emerging market for LEC materials.

RSVP for the Webinar

About the Carbon Leadership Forum

Who We Are

The Carbon Leadership Forum accelerates transformation of the building sector to radically reduce the embodied carbon in building materials and construction.
We pioneer research, create resources, foster cross-sector collaboration, and incubate member-led initiatives to bring embodied carbon emissions of buildings down to zero.
We are architects, engineers, contractors, material suppliers, building owners, and policymakers who care about the future and take bold steps to eliminate embodied carbon from buildings and infrastructure.

www.carbonleadershipforum.org

Carbon Leadership Forum

4100 Redwood Rd #20A
Oakland, CA 94619-5726
United States

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