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Reducing and ultimately eliminating the emissions from building construction is urgently needed to address climate change. Because embodied carbon is a relatively new concept for most of the AEC industry, the presentation aims to increase awareness of the issue to allow participants to make a positive impact on their projects. In large part because LEED and similar rating systems have facilitated significant progress in reducing operational carbon, carbon emissions from initial building construction are expected to match those of operational emissions for projects constructed between 2020 and 2050. The presentation will provide an introduction to embodied carbon in building construction, with a focus on the building structure. The participant will learn about how embodied carbon differs from operational carbon, drivers of embodied carbon, and strategies to track and reduce it in the building structure. Through examples and case studies, various design and construction concepts will be presented to illustrate both the challenge and opportunity of using embodied carbon as a design criterion.

Presented by: 

Michael E. Cropper, P.E., LEED AP

Mr. Cropper is a Principal, structural engineer, and office director at Thornton Tomasetti’s Washington, DC, office.  He has over eighteen years of experience designing structures of all sizes for commercial, retail, residential, hospital, government and cultural projects. Recent projects include 600 Fifth, Amaris DC, Capital One Hall, and Metropolitan Park which is Amazon’s headquarters in Arlington.  He co-led TT’s Embodied Carbon Community of Practice for two years, a group of approximately 250 staff passionate about embodied carbon and grouped into seven working groups.  Mr. Cropper helps drive Thornton Tomasetti’s efforts on embodied carbon tracking and reduction and has presented on embodied carbon at conferences for the American Institute of Architects, American Concrete Institute and American Society of Civil Engineers, among others. 

Learning Objectives:

• Define embodied carbon and its importance to climate change.
• Describe the primary sources of embodied carbon and how they impact the building’s carbon footprint.
• Explain strategies to reduce embodied carbon in the building structure.
• Learn about innovative concrete products to reduce the carbon footprint.

HSW Justifictation: 

Embodied carbon is the carbon footprint of construction materials. The building sector is responsible for about half of annual global carbon emissions. Reducing operational energy has been an industry focus for 20 years, but embodied carbon has been a missing piece of the puzzle. To meet the global emission targets to address climate change, immediate and significant reductions in embodied carbon are required.