At CLF, we aim to accelerate the transformation of the building sector to radically reduce the embodied carbon in building materials and construction through collective action. As the embodied carbon challenge has become more well understood, more state departments of transportation (DOTs) have developed carbon accounting practices compatible with their current standard data collection and storage practices. In particular, with the recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Buy Clean Acts in California, Colorado, and Oregon and the Buy Clean and Buy Fair Act proposed in Washington State, common construction materials such as Portland cement, concrete, steel, and asphalt are now getting special attention. Once accurate and reliable accounting of embodied carbon is made available, agencies and companies will be able to form strategies to help meet state and federal-level carbon reduction targets.

Specifically, the CLF is collaborating with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) in a carbon baselining study to perform life cycle assessment (LCA) on agency-wide operations that emit greenhouse gases. WSDOT has not previously conducted comprehensive research on the embodied carbon within its construction material usage (i.e., part of its Scope 3 emissions inventory). Earlier efforts focused on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions (i.e., carbon footprint of direct and indirect energy usage).

Leveraging my five years of experience as a PhD student with LCA in the realm of transportation infrastructure, I use several data sources from WSDOT in conjunction with life cycle inventories (LCI) to estimate embodied carbon from the materials used to build and maintain roadways under WSDOT jurisdiction.

We hypothesize that Scope 3 emissions for WSDOT as an agency are a big contributor to its overall embodied carbon. Our project therefore aims to baseline current and historic greenhouse gas emissions from WSDOT's construction materials usage and finally provide recommendations to better adapt to the soon-to-be-enacted policies around embodied carbon reporting and mitigation. Working at CLF provided the opportunity for me to directly implement my PhD research findings as part of this WSDOT project to expand LCA analysis in the broader context of an agency.

Warm regards,

Milad

The Carbon Leadership Forum Seeks Applicants for Several New Staff Positions

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 September, 49 MEP firms have signed the Commitment, along with 24 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.

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?

A Decade of Embodied Carbon Action

by Erin Kirkpatrick and Angi Rivera

Sellen first targeted embodied carbon in 2013 on the Helen Sommers Building, a design-build project with ZGF Architects for the State of Washington. The 234,000-square-foot, five-story office building included significant sustainability achievements, including a 71% reduction in greenhouse gases (GHG) from building operations. In addition, the design-build team focused on minimizing the embodied carbon in concrete by requiring Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for almost all mixes. Sellen proposed creating new EPDs for the project’s concrete mixes to measure the team’s efforts to reduce embodied GHG impacts when compared to baseline, business-as-usual concrete mixes.

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.

Carbon Leadership Forum Opens
Advisory Board Applications

The Carbon Leadership Forum advisory board provides strategic guidance to help accelerate the transformation of the building sector to radically reduce the embodied carbon in building materials and construction through collective action. Board members meet regularly to hear reports on current CLF research and development projects, to provide practical advice and to engage in outreach to deepen and extend the CLF community. 

We're especially interested in a range of new board members, including people from a variety of professions, and diverse communities, skillsets, and locations. A key consideration will be to discover new members who can help us in our work to center equity, defined as "fairness and justice achieved through systematically assessing disparities in opportunities, outcomes, and representation and redressing [those] disparities through targeted actions ,” Adapted from Urban Strategies Council