CollegeBuys Webinar: Understanding and Managing Embodied Carbon in Buildings

Embodied carbon in buildings refers to the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction, manufacture, transportation, installation, maintenance, and end-of-life of building materials. In California, statewide building codes such as CALGreen and procurement regulations such as Buy Clean California, which applies to a broad range of public sector institutions, are evolving to include mandatory requirements for managing embodied carbon and Scope 3 emissions from building materials. Likewise, voluntary green building rating systems such as LEED are shifting embodied carbon from being an optional credit to a mandatory prerequisite in newer versions like LEED v5.

Understanding what embodied carbon in building materials is, which materials are the biggest contributors, and how to manage embodied carbon on building and built environment capital projects is now an essential part of project delivery.

This one-hour webinar by experienced architects and engineers will provide an introduction to embodied carbon and where it is found in buildings, how it is regulated, and then provide an overview of design and construction strategies to pursue to reduce embodied carbon.

Specific topics include:

• Defining embodied carbon in buildings
• Embodied carbon in CALGreen code
• Solutions:
  • Source reduction
  • Mass Timber
  • Low embodied carbon concrete
  • Low embodied carbon steel

Speakers

Avideh Haghighi

Associate Sustainability Principal, HDR

An architect who has led a wide range of major public sector design projects, Avideh is specifically focused on optimizing sustainable design performance. She was one of the authors and a primary advocate for the CALGreen code language requiring embodied carbon reduction.

Seth Strongin

Building Decarbonization Planning Director, HDR

Seth works hand in hand with architects and engineers to develop strategies for net-zero and low-carbon design for both operational and embodied carbon.