GBA was excited to begin returning to in-person events with our quarterly Bridge to 2030 meeting on the morning of March 15th!
This month’s topic was centered around embodied carbon and existing buildings, and we heard a variety of perspectives on how the way we construct our buildings can have overlapping impacts on the environment, wildlife, and humans.
The Frick Environmental Center was the perfect setting for the event, with its net zero energy and water status. Speakers from Pittsburgh’s chapter of the Carbon Leadership Forum, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, and Carnegie Museums each joined the meeting to discuss topics in embodied carbon, bird-friendly design, and examples of sustainable construction. Here are some important takeaways from each presentation.
Operational carbon is made up of the energy that buildings consume in their operations process, while embodied carbon consists of the carbon emissions that result from the manufacturing, construction, transportation, maintenance and disposal of building materials.
While much of building energy reduction efforts are focused on tackling operational carbon emissions, reducing embodied carbon is just as vital to meeting energy and climate goals. Operational carbon in a building can be reduced over time with the help of innovative technology and cleaner energy production, but there is no way to decrease embodied carbon levels once a building is constructed.
Embodied carbon is primarily generated at the beginning of a building’s life and can represent a majority of its environmental impact, depending on the project location. Reducing embodied carbon becomes even more important when considering current and projected rates of urbanization and development.
To assess potential embodied carbon emissions, project teams can perform life cycle assessments that estimate the environmental impact of a building project from its inception to the end of its life. To understand a building’s total carbon impact, this information can be used alongside energy modeling simulations to estimate operational carbon emissions, and eventually metered energy consumption data after the building is occupied.
Reducing a building’s embodied carbon can come in the form of design strategies, material selection and purchasing offsets. Typically, a combination of all three can achieve net zero building emissions goals.
The simplest way to reduce embodied carbon? Don’t construct new projects—instead, focus efforts on renovating or revitalizing existing buildings and components. Using less carbon intensive materials (such as steel or concrete) in building projects can also decrease embodied carbon levels.
It should also be noted that the steel and concrete industries are both seeking solutions to reduce embodied carbon in their products, so new viable alternatives will start to become more available. Some currently available solutions include using steel with recycled content and concrete with supplementary cementitious materials “SCMs”.
Each member of a building project team has a role to play in reducing embodied carbon, and there are multiple opportunities to take action throughout the design and construction process. These roles can range from setting initial goals to analyzing the design’s carbon footprint to sourcing sustainable materials and reducing construction waste on-site.
350 million to 1 billion bird deaths a year result from building collisions.
These collisions often result from light pollution, when the artificial lights we use disrupt bird migratory patterns and confuse them into coming closer to the ground.
Pittsburgh began implementing its dark sky ordinance in summer 2021 to reduce the effects of light pollution on bird migrations.
The ordinance advises people to turn off unnecessary external lights from the hours of 12 am to 6 am during peak migration season (March 15 – May 31).
To learn more about how you can help, visit birdsafepgh.org!
When reconstructing the center, 75% of the existing building material was reused: a great example of embodied carbon reduction!
Biophilic design was a high priority—imitating the design and processes of the natural world.
This is evident in features like the windows of differing sizes that allow in natural light, improving mental focus while imitating the light patterns of a forest.
The building also incorporates bird-friendly design, with an adhesive pattern on windows to deter collisions, and exterior lights that turn off at 11 pm to comply with the dark sky ordinance.
Another priority of the design process was ensuring that all individuals felt comfortable in the space. The Freedom Garden, in which visitors can come together to learn about and discuss topics such as slavery, contributes to an environment that emphasizes social equity as much as environmental sustainability.
Thanks to our amazing speakers for sharing their time and knowledge with us!
Alex Co
Julia Wattick
Jonathan Rice
Camila Rivera-Tinsley
Many thanks to the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy for allowing us to utilize the Frick Environmental Center for this event.
Make sure to register for the 2030 District Progress Report Reception on May 24th at the National Aviary. We hope you will join us to celebrate the advances our region has made towards a more sustainable future!
