Sustainable Design & Embodied Carbon: What Structural Engineers Need to Know
Structural engineers are responsible for delivering safe and economical buildings. Engineers have traditionally minimized material quantities in their designs to reduce project costs and help achieve economical buildings. This aspect of the SE profession has taken on a new importance as the AEC community works to reduce the environmental impact of building construction and operation. Every year, 66 billion square feet of buildings are constructed, resulting in approximately 3.8 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions. This amount of embodied carbon is roughly equal to the CO2 emissions associated with operating all existing buildings. Structural engineers can make a significant impact in embodied carbon emissions by understanding the sources of embodied carbon and going beyond simply reducing material quantities in designs.
This webinar will give structural engineers a basic knowledge of embodied carbon and how to reduce the carbon footprint of structures. Life cycle assessment will be introduced as it relates to embodied carbon emissions. Industry initiatives such as SE 2050, SEI’s commitment to zero embodied carbon, will be discussed. Lastly, this webinar will serve as a launch of SEAOI’s Sustainable Design Committee.
1 CE credit
Learning Objectives
- Identify sources of embodied carbon for structures
- Understand how embodied carbon can be reduced through design and specifications
- Learn how embodied carbon is reported and how to get involved with industry initiatives
Registration
Members: FREE
Non-members: $25
This is a virtual presentation and will be held on Zoom. Attendees will be required to create a free Zoom account, if they do not already have one, in order to access the webinar and receive CE credit.
Meet the Speakers
Benton Johnson is a Principal Structural Engineer with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in Chicago. His innovative approach to structural engineering results in efficient and sustainable designs that are applicable to a wide range of building typologies. He led the design of 100 Mount Street in North Sydney Australia, which has expressed mega bracing that minimized the cost and carbon footprint of the building. His work also includes The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati and the timber framed San Mateo County Office Building.
Applying his expertise in research and industry partnerships, Benton has led SOM’s timber tower research project, a multiyear initiative involving full-scale structural, fire, and acoustic testing of mass-timber systems. He has also emerged as a leader in 3D-printed buildings through collaborations with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Branch Technology.
Max Puchtel is the Director of Government Relations and Sustainability for the American Institute of Steel Construction. He represents the structural steel community on state and federal government issues, including Buy American policies, trade, transportation funding, and Buy Clean legislation. Max leads AISC’s sustainability efforts, including the development and publication of three industry-wide EPDs for fabricated structural steel.
He is active in many professional, standards, and industry groups, including the Structural Engineering Institute, National Council of Structural Engineering Associations, Association for Iron and Steel Technology, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, and Green Globes Consensus Bodies. Max holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the Illinois Institute of Technology, and he is a licensed structural engineer, professional engineer, and LEED Green Associate.