Session

Presented by Mariana Egea-Casalduc, ORISE Science, Technology, and Policy Fellow, Dept. of Energy in the Building Technologies Office, (BTO); Luke Leung, Principal, Sustainability Engineering Studio, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLC; and Josh Jacobs, Director of Sustainability, WAP Sustainability. Moderated by Ryan Colker, JD, CAE, VP, Innovation, Executive Director, Alliance for National and Community Resilience, International Code Council.

The Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) finds that 37 percent of 2020 global energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are attributable to buildings during their design, construction, and operations. Energy codes have been an effective strategy in reducing operational energy, but additional activities to address how design strategies and material choices influence the GHG emission impacts of buildings are needed.

The building industry must deploy solutions that reduce these emissions while assuring buildings provide the level of safety, resilience, and affordability necessary to protect all members of society. Decarbonizing the building stock is a complex issue that requires alignment across multiple actors. It also requires a consistent set of standards and guidance that provides accurate accounting of progress and optimizes decisions across the entire building lifecycle.

This session will explore current decarbonization strategies, including the use of environmental product declarations (EPDs), use of energy and green codes and future activities that can lead to a decarbonized built environment.

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