Advancing Decarbonization: Embodied Carbon Reductions Enter California Building Code

A pioneering update to California’s building code will require reductions in Embodied Carbon for commercial building projects. A panel of experts will discuss the implications, strategies, opportunities, and tools to advance embodied carbon reduction relative to the CALGreen code update.

The reduction of embodied carbon is a critical component to advancing a net-zero future for the built environment. On July 1st 2024, California will be the first US jurisdiction to mandate the disclosure and reduction of embodied carbon for commercial building projects in its building code. In addition to requiring manufacturer disclosure of embodied carbon for certain building materials, the CALGreen update will introduce three compliance paths for the reduction of embodied carbon in commercial construction. This panel will present work and experiences from a range of experts in embodied carbon and decarbonization considerations in architectural project delivery.

Moderator

Alex Rosenthal, AIA – Senior Associate, Heintges Consulting Architects and Engineers

Alex Rosenthal is a Senior Associate at Heintges and has been working with the firm since 2016 from both New York and San Francisco offices. Alex has collaborated with some of the world’s leading architecture firms in the design and technical development of high-profile building envelopes on projects internationally, ranging from flagship retail to high-rise residential, commercial, laboratory, institutional and museum programs. Since 2022, he has been based out of Southern California working with Heintges San Francisco office. Alex holds degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Architecture and a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University’s GSAPP where he received the Lucille Smysyer Lowenfish Memorial Prize.

Panelists

Avideh Haghighi, AIA, LFA, LEED GA – Associate Principal, ZGF

Avideh is a licensed architect specializing in sustainable design, with experience on a variety of projects from schools to mixed use/multi-family residential and institutional buildings. She is personally and professionally invested in creating an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable future through an understanding of buildings as a part of a dynamic socio-ecological system. A big-picture thinker at heart, she thrives on guiding design teams to discover synergies between building, social and ecological processes. Avideh’s career has been equally rooted in design and advocacy. She serves as chair of the AIA California Climate Action Embodied Carbon Working Group, engaged in the development of the CALGreen mandatory embodied carbon measures and now helps in developing webinars and resources to facilitate its implementation.

Pablo LaRoche, PhD, LEED AP BD+C – Principal & Sustainable Design Services Director, Arcadis, & Professor of Architecture at Cal Poly 

Pablo La Roche is a Principal & Sustainable Design Services Director at ARCADIS, where he leads the Architecture and Urbanism division’s global sustainability initiatives and works on projects worldwide. He is also a tenured Professor of Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona, where he teaches lecture courses and design studios with an emphasis on sustainability. Pablo holds a Ph.D. from the University of California Los Angeles and has authored over 150 technical papers and several books, including “Carbon Neutral Architectural Design,” with a third edition released in May 2024, and several book chapters, including the 2022 Routledge Manual on Thermal Comfort. Pablo has been a technical reviewer of numerous conferences and journals, juried design awards, chaired the Passive Low Energy Architecture PLEA 2016 conference in Los Angeles, and is past president of the Society of Building Science Educators, SBSE. His awards include the Fulbright by the US Department of State, the Chancellors Scholarship from UCLA, the IMPACT Award from the USGBC, and the NCARB Grand Prize.

Sophie Pennetier, Associate Director, Enclos, & Adjunct Faculty at Sci-Arc

Sophie Pennetier is a structural engineer with expertise in façades and sustainability. Her 17 years’ experience spans from consulting (with RFR, GNA, SHoP Construction, Arup) to contracting (with Enclos). Adjunct Faculty with SCI-Arc since ‘21, Sophie Pennetier teaches Structures and Embodied Carbon classes. Those two topics, alongside façades, are the core of her contributions to SCI-Arc Design Development projects.

Sophie’s elective class on embodied carbon responds to her students’ request to accelerate their knowledge in reducing upfront carbon. It supports their research projects on circular architecture, and brings in internationally recognized industry trailblazers, involved in policy, sustainability consulting, manufacturing, contracting and circular economy. Her students’ work on embodied carbon has been applauded and sought after by major architecture and consulting firms and industry associations such as the Carbon Leadership Forum. Through such efforts, each year upward of a hundred SCI-Arc students learn to grow the innovative and creative thinking the industry needs to address the built environment leading contribution to climate change.

Sophie has published and presented her research internationally in scientific conferences, trade associations and journals, codes committees, and lectured at universities in Europe and the US. Serving on the Board of Directors of the Façade Tectonics Institute, she has developed the FTI Carbon group research and grown its educational content. In 2023 she was awarded, in the individual category, the US Glass Sustainability Award for her contributions to industry research and education.

Seth Strongin,  LEED AP, WELL AP – Building Decarbonization Planning Director, HDR

Seth Strongin is the Building Decarbonization Planning Director for HDR. Based in Los Angeles, and serving North America, he develops strategies for achieving net zero carbon in the built environment. Seth’s areas of practice span decarbonization master planning and roadmapping, high performance design, existing building performance improvement, and urban energy infrastructure, including renewable energy, microgrids and zero emission vehicle infrastructure. Seth was recognized as one of the Top 40 Under 40 by Consulting Specifying Engineer and is a frequent public speaker. He actively participates in many professional organizations, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the USGBC-Los Angeles.

Learning Objectives – Pending Approval

1. Understand Embodied Carbon considerations in architectural design and project delivery.
2. Review requirements and compliance pathways for the 2022 CALGreen July 1st code update requiring reductions in embodied carbon for commercial projects.
3. Learn about carbon reduction strategies, analysis methods, tools, and collaborative opportunities in managing project embodied carbon footprint.
4. Understand current and future efforts in advancing reductions of greenhouse gas emissions for the built environment.