Member Impact – June 2022

What are you and your company doing to help reduce embodied carbon emissions?

Alex Ianchenko

Research + Design Staff at The Miller Hull Partnership

There are two of me – Alex lives in Seattle in wood buildings constructed in the past few decades, and Oleksandra comes from Kyiv, raised in concrete apartments. Both Oleksandra and Alex appreciated materials that shape buildings and in turn, memories and identity. But it wasn’t until I started a position as an undergraduate researcher at the CLF that I realized building materials are also shaping the entire biosphere.

Practicing architecture with an eye to environmental impact of materials is an extremely fulfilling way to engage with the world. In my current position as an embodied carbon researcher at Miller Hull, I get to learn something new, deep and tangible about the world every day. When I see a metal panel, I now wonder about the dam churning out the electricity that supplies the milling plant.

Luckily, my colleagues share the view that building materials and the impacts they cause embed our work in the world. And, that world depends on the building industry doing more, better, and faster, to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. This is why Miller Hull launched EMission Zero in 2021. This initiative combines our actions to reduce climate impact through Design, our ongoing efforts to Educate and Advocate and our commitment to buy into voluntary carbon markets and Offset the remaining greenhouse gas emissions released up to the point of occupancy for all of our built projects. We invite our partners in architecture, engineering, and construction to join us.

The best part? Material lovers and environment accounting nerds are already out here in the Puget Sound region – and I get to build the future with them every two weeks at CLF-Seattle regional hub calls. Alex and Oleksandra are both extremely grateful to them.

What are you and your company doing to help reduce embodied carbon emissions?

Dorian A. Bailey

Chief of Science and Sustainable Construction, Engineering Department, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey 

I grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, back when atmospheric carbon dioxide was 321 ppm. My passion for science has been with me for as long as I can remember. Undergraduate experiences at the University of Sciences were filled with the stuff of geek dreams, classes in microbiology, virology, immunology and oh so much chemistry. I received my MS in Environmental Science and have never doubted my education or career choices. As a science mom, I imposed my will on my son, Cooper, coaching him in First Lego League Robotics and You Be the Chemist Challenges. It is for his generation and future generations that I do this.

My work in the Materials Engineering Unit of the Construction Management Division of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has spanned for over 28 years. My unique expertise in environmental chemistry and materials testing prompted this new position geared to quantifying and mitigating the environmental impacts of construction. As the newly appointed Chief of Science and Sustainable Construction, my work includes:

• Minimizing the embodied carbon from construction materials, especially concrete
• Promoting avoidance, minimization, re-use, and recycling of construction waste streams
• Curtailing localized emissions from diesel construction equipment

In this dynamic role, which includes outreach to the Port Authority’s general contractor community, materials suppliers, other business partners and organizations fostering lower impact construction practices, I am trying to bring “Clean Construction” to the forefront of Stage IV construction work in the NY/NJ/Metro Region.

What are you and your company doing to help reduce embodied carbon emissions?

Kristin Tollovsen

Manager Sustainability and Social Purpose – Centurion Canada Infrastructure
Co-Founder CLF Alberta Hub

My own personal motivation for addressing climate change and carbon impacts specifically was from a desire for efficiency. I was lucky – part of my job training included not only how to construct better buildings but also how to make the construction process itself better. This was my introduction to Lean thinking. Lean means focusing on delivering value and removing wasteful actions in the process. In other words – how to be very efficient while still being effective. This training was happening as I was starting to conduct life cycle assessments under the LEED rating system and delving into the world of carbon. It was a clear correlation- every Lean efficiency meant more sustainable people, processes, and projects. Less waste equaled more sustainability. That combined with the potential of the building industry (the equivalent of a new New York built approximately every month for the foreseeable future got me ) meant huge opportunity and I wanted to be on the right side of it.

Starting the CLF Alberta Hub has always been about connecting industry with the information to do their work more sustainably. Right now, we are really focused on the supply chain and ensuring people are aware of what the true impacts of their material purchases are AND the opportunities for owner and industry to push for change. We are preparing two panels on this subject with one panel specifically addressing concrete. We have diverse representatives from up and down the building material supply chain.

The only way anyone’s building, business, or national carbon reduction goals will be met is with extreme collaboration in supply chain and we want to help link as many potential partners as possible, especially in Alberta. We look forward to hosting many more events in the future!

What are you and your company doing to help reduce embodied carbon emissions?

Ramya Shivkumar

Director of Energy & Sustainability at Windward Engineers & Consultants

“We don’t inherit this earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” — Wendell Berry

A couple of years ago, my son came home from school and announced that he had learnt an interesting fact. The mass of plastic in the ocean would exceed the fishes by 2050. I had been working in the green building industry for more than 10 years. I believed; I was immersed in this fight to mitigate climate change. And yet, this fact really shook me.

In that moment with my son, I couldn’t remember when I had stopped thinking about resources as something precious in my own life. I was working on several sustainability projects to create a greener built environment as a building performance specialist. However, in that moment, I questioned if I was doing enough.

This question was a defining moment in my life. Walking the talk is a process of questioning status quo, of learning, of self-introspection, of course correction, of being humbled, and about working together as a community, by inspiring each other into action.

Subsequently, I began volunteering for a grassroots environmental non-profit, GreenCellATL. The organization aims to help everyone go green. We initiate many green campaigns and initiatives, like Solarize Forsyth County (to be launched this month). We focus on food rescue, free utensils bank (prevent single-use plastic by loaning utensils for parties), composting, and youth mentorship. As a director and youth program manager at Green Cell, I am responsible for creating and managing all initiatives that impact kids. We saw a need to develop a program that connects science concepts with meaningful climate action. Kids are interested in contributing but they don’t know how to contribute. We also work with teachers and schools to set up environmental programs. 50 middle and high school kids are currently enrolled in the program. Our popular program is the free virtual Greener Sunshine Summer Camp where kids teach kids about climate change and climate action.

At Windward Engineers and Consultants, I lead the energy and sustainability practice. We believe in the human right to healthy environments, and in the urgency of creating sustainable and resilient design solutions for future generations. Through our native American association, we embrace their philosophy of wellness, as a state of being, in harmony with mind, body and the environment or unci-maka (grandmother earth). The native American community believe in a personal relationship with the earth and the need to protect and preserve the environment for future generations.

Windward Engineers & Consultants is the first minority-owned firm to become a MEP 2040 signatory. While we work on new construction projects, we see tremendous opportunity in existing building renovations and retrofits. Recently, we conducted a deep energy retrofit analysis of 19 non-residential buildings (2.2M SF). The scope of the project involved developing deep energy retrofit pathway to achieve net zero by 2035, through significant energy and cost-effective GHG emission reductions.

The study included a wide variety of building types, such as, casino, hotel, convention center, wastewater reclamation, office, sports/ fitness ice arena, convenience store, car wash, pharmacy, museum, spiritual center, restaurants, fire station, and maintenance workshop. While this study did not directly address embodied carbon aspect, we tried to address refrigerant impact. It would be insightful to study the impact of retrofitting 19 buildings versus building one new building. We want to contribute to the work that has been initiated by CLF and other pioneers and look forward to becoming an active contributor.