CarbonPositive: Evolving the Embodied Carbon Landscape

Building industry disciplines must collaborate in order to create sustainable and equitable communities, writes Architecture 2030 president Vincent Martinez.

We are all in this together. When we talk about the imperative for climate action from the built environment community, we are talking about architects and all allied professionals: engineers, planners, landscape architects, and many others. That we are all in this together is true for the community of all living things, and it is true for all the disciplines that participate in making the built environment.

When Architecture 2030 and Edward Mazria, FAIA, first issued the 2030 Challenge in 2006, there were many questions in the marketplace about where and how emissions could be addressed in building projects. Architects and The American Institute of Architects were early adopters, and by 2008, the AIA 2030 Commitment launched. As our understanding of embodied carbon has grown, architect-led teams have addressed sustainable building through thoughtful designs and material selection. Other disciplines have also mobilized to support this agenda with their own initiatives and calls to action, including structural engineers with the SE 2050 challenge and commitment addressing the embodied carbon of structural systems; and the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering community with the MEP 2040 challenge addressing the climate change impacts of refrigerants, among other goals.