2026 – 2029 Strategic Plan

How we’re evolving

by Anthony Hickling, Executive Director

Embodied carbon emissions from buildings and infrastructure are enormous and currently projected to double by 2050. If left unmitigated, constructing our future homes, hospitals, bridges, and other necessary structures threatens our health and well-being and that of future generations. 

Building off of 15 years of research and collaboration across the AEC industry, CLF has provided key data and resources to scale awareness and catalyze action. We developed first-of-its-kind research, like the 2017 Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Benchmarking Study, incubated the development of the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3), and have helped inform some of the earliest policies that drive demand for low embodied carbon construction practices.

In 2024, CLF spun off from the University of Washington to become an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit. This transition provided us with a more agile organizational structure to scale activities beyond academic research. Now that the transition is complete, CLF has developed a new strategic plan that outlines our ambitions for the coming years. 

This new plan reflects our new organizational structure, a changed political environment, and a very different state of knowledge and awareness of embodied carbon. Across the building industry in North America, embodied carbon is now understood to be a leading source of greenhouse gas emissions, and professionals rely on CLF’s research and resources to help design and construct lower-carbon buildings. Policymakers are also increasingly developing programs to drive lower-carbon procurement and design practices: Today, CLF is tracking over 100 global programs that address embodied carbon and has helped develop or implement many of them. 

And while our small team has had an outsized impact across North America and beyond, we’ve only begun to elevate action towards the level required to meet 2050 Climate Goals. Looking at the next four years, we’ve outlined a plan to leverage key opportunities that scale demand and adoption of low-carbon planning, design, and procurement strategies. 

Accomplishing these goals relies on ambitious collective leadership at scale. CLF will continue collaborating with our regional hubs, partner NGOs, academia, funders, policymakers, and professionals from across the building sector to identify and scale the highest impact embodied carbon reduction strategies. We will rely on members of the building industry to demonstrate what’s possible and will support public and corporate leaders to prioritize lower-carbon construction practices.

These themes and the strategies outlined in our plan represent an evolution of our work as well as a basic need to grow capacity over the coming years. CLF and a larger network of advocates must invest resources at a level that aligns with the enormous scale of GHG emissions we hope to reduce. And while we expect to face significant challenges, we know the benefits are worth that investment: Reducing embodied carbon creates opportunities for healthier communities, economic development, and innovation to build the just and thriving future we want to live in. We’re eager to implement this strategic plan and begin to realize that future. I hope you’ll join us.