CLF’s Embodied Carbon Roundtable has the following objectives:
- Share news, strategic plans, resources, and tools related to embodied carbon.
- Report planning and future dates for conferences, webinars, and meetings.
- Inspire and facilitate ongoing communication and conversation among key leaders related to embodied carbon.
- Encourage convergence on shared embodied carbon terminology, data standards, benchmarks, and targets for embodied carbon reduction.
>> Register for the Upcoming July Meeting!
Presenters
- Megan Kalsman — CLF Pacific Coast Collaborative Embodied Carbon Policy Case Studies
- Brad Benke — CLF WBLCA Benchmark Study
- Amanda Smith — Project Drawdown
- Caroline Butchart — Zero Emissions Building Exchange, Vancouver BC
- Stephan Sylvan — US Environmental Protection Agency
- Webly Bowles — New Buildings Institute
- Tracy Huynh — RMI
- Irene Dominguez — Bellona Europa
- Lionel Lemay — National Ready-Mix Concrete Association (NRMCA)
- Kara Kokernak — ULI
- Peter Bacas — Port Authority of NY/NJ
- Ankita Gangotra — WRI
- Lauren Kubiak - NRDC
- Katie Riddle - American Society of Landscape Architects
- Luke Leung - MEP 2040
- Fiona Greer - Center for the Built Environment, UC Berkeley
Megan Kalsman — CLF Pacific Coast Collaborative Embodied Carbon Policy Case Studies
- CLF Technical resource, slow carbon construction working group
- Strategizing to EC policy in the region
Brad Benke — CLF WBLCA Benchmark Study
- Kicking off data collection for the study
- Develop robust WBLCA benchmarks for buildings
- Interested organizations can fill out participant questionnaire on project webpage
Amanda Smith — Project Drawdown
- Drawdown – stop adding emissions to the atmosphere
- Research and data visualizations, what climate solutions are out there and will work
- Real zero – zero for the planet, quick cuts now for long term plans
- How do we scale them – drawdown roadmap
- How to use science – multiple stakeholders
- amandadsmith | Twitter | Linktree
Ankita Gangotra — WRI
- Co-convened Industrial Innovation Initiative (I3) with the Great Plains Institute
- Industry leaders and other stakeholders for industrial decarbonization
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International green procurement initiatives
- Landscape assessment of international and national procurement policies
- Link US to international green procurement policies
- Benchmarks, technological readiness
- Drafted article – understand differences to guide conversations about harmonizing efforts
Caroline Butchart – ZEBx and CLF British Columbia Regional Hub
- Zero Emissions Building Exchange – decarbonization across whole built environment
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CLF British Columbia – emissions in the built environment
- Bringing people together in Vancouver – upcoming changes and guidelines
- Capacity building
- Embodied carbon awards in March – 6 winners and sold out event
- Research network to connect academic institutions to bring together and resource share
Irene Dominguez — Bellona Europa
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Bellona Europa – non profit, focusing on EU policy, area of focus IN carbon accounting, energy systems, stable economy, local impact
- Embodied carbon work is within local impact
- Research and advocacy, science based
- Demand side – decarbonization construction products, assisting industry, pull into market
- Supply side – green procurement
- Zero emissions construction sites
- Create embodied carbon report in the EU, visibility is low in EU, cement and steel emissions, definition on what low EC products are
- Policy in EU – open policy files, beginning stages so still can change a lot
Fiona Greer - UC Berkeley
- Center for the Built Environment
- Collaborating with CLF for total carbon in building in CA benchmark
- Research proposals around WBLCA and EC – California Climate Initiative
- CBE – completed industry advisory meeting where EC was large part of the research
Katie Riddle - American Society of Landscape Architects
- Membership association, ~15k members
- Dipping toes into this work, working with National Climate Action Committee to educate on EPDs and what is coming for the profession
- Informal coalition for EC and the built environment
- Whole project LCA, project site and infrastructure are part of the conversation
Lauren Kubiak – NRDC
- Power sector and industrial decarbonization
- Embodied carbon work at material level - cement and concrete, steel, aluminum
- Public procurement policies
- Scoping how to address embodied carbon from a more comprehensive level with building team
- Roadmap to take a step back – ARUP did broad synthesis on whole building approach to scale up embodied carbon work – not published yet
Peter Bacas — Port Authority of NY/NJ
- Responsible for transportation infrastructure/ built environment systems
- Materials and technical specifications for low embodied carbon sourcing
- Updating Portland cement specifications
- Requirement for EPDs submitted with mixes
- Provided response to EPA RFI
- Recap of embodied carbon data and projects
- 170 product specific EPDs over the last 3 years
- Creating dashboard for showing impacts to leadership – epds include KPIs other than just GWP
- Product specific EPDs – 120 different ones in the past year
Stephan Sylvan — US Environmental Protection Agency
- Completed 3rd stakeholder engagement webinar
- Processing and reviewing RFI comments
- Hiring and staffing – 4 new people on over the next few weeks, 3 more, much more hiring to do
- 25 open positions in EC space
- sylvan.stephan@epa.gov
Tracy Huynh — RMI
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Victor Olgyay – RMI
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EC 101 article – synthesis of where we are with current understanding of EC, lit review, strategies, policy landscape, key stakeholders, etc…
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The Hidden Climate Impact of Residential Construction Report – report cradle to gate EC emission sin new home construction and building industry’s ability to mitigate
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RESNET Standard – measure EC in new low rise residential homes, in progress
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Homebuilders Climate Commitment Program – underpinned by RESNET standard, reporting template to support sectors to report and reduce carbon emissions and consistently on ec and emissions
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Ready Mix Concrete Industry Resource Development – educational resources for ready mix concrete industry workforce
Webly Bowles — New Buildings Institute
- New Embodied Carbon and Codes factsheet
- EC building code language to be adopted in June
- Next week Getting to Zero Forum i
- MnRoad Tour
- EC Workshop and sessions next week
- Net Zero Buildings Week – June 12 - 16,#DecarbonizationForGood
- Seattle working group to discuss embodied carbon code proposals that were submitted at the beginning of the year
- CallGeen embodied carbon proposals – heavy oppositions, hearing in August 1-3, sign up to speak and connect for more info
- Working on two webinars this fall – collect info about other efforts, content and date at next roundtable, connect to collaborate
Karen Kokernak - ULI
- 45k members, publishing, meetings, etc…
- Will be participating in Net Zero Building Week
- Decarbonization work, embodied carbon campaign
- Embodied carbon convening in January – publish Urban Land Article
- Webinar in April – lessons learned and next steps
- Sustainable Materials Report – published in next few weeks
- ULI Spring meeting – May 16th
- Late summer - industry meeting
Lionel Lemay — National Ready-Mix Concrete Association (NRMCA)
- IRA and GSA specs, other fed agencies, comments on low carbon program
- Modify specifications to allow for low carbon concrete – educating agencies, guide specs
- Education – top 10 way to reduce carbon footprint
- Concrete innovations – offering solutions and innovations to reduce carbon footprint
- ASHRAE – codes to reduce EC in building materials
- State legislative activities:
- NJ passed low carbon legislation andOpen air collaborative
- Maryland new legislation, likely will be passed – incentives for EPDs
- Minnesota looking at something similar
- CLF report on benchmarks will be used in legislative activities
- Establish benchmark for industry – starting process now, many request for more granularity, application son concrete and regionality and local applications
- for EPDs, IW EPD and Benchmarks, Guide Spec for Low Embodied Carbon, Top 10 Ways to Reduce Concrete’s Carbon Footprint.
- www.concreteinnovations.com for monthly webinars on low carbon concrete.