CLF Boston Impact Series

The Impact Series kicks off on June 7 and runs through the month. Building on 2020’s Embodied Carbon 101 Series, the Impact Series facilitates discussion forums based on particular sectors and market typologies. These discussions are open to all: practitioners, owners, residents/citizens, and policymakers. Anyone who wants to join a community of like-minded people and address embodied carbon in their work immediately is encouraged to attend.

Through cross-disciplinary conversation and knowledge-sharing, the sessions will identify critical actions to reduce embodied carbon You can learn more and register for any and all sessions here.

Zero Carbon Buildings—Municipal Summit

Built Environment Plus will host a summit on zero carbon buildings on June 11, with support from CLF Boston, among many other organizations and entities. The Summit aims to provide information to municipal staff in order to advance carbon reduction and climate goals in the Commonwealth’s cities and towns. You can learn more about the event—including the many organizations coming together to support it—here.

Zero Net Carbon Building Zoning Initiative—Embodied Carbon

In partnership with the BSA and CLF Boston, Built Environment Plus, Architecture2030, and the Carbon Leadership Forum, the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) and the City of Boston hosted the Embodied Carbon Impacts and Opportunities Public Meeting on April 27, 2021. The meeting included expert presentations on the building industry’s role in carbon emissions, pathways to carbon reduction, and time for questions, feedback, and discussion.

Following this meeting, the BPDA formed a ZNC Technical Advisory Group for Embodied Carbon, which is tasked with making action recommendations for reducing embodied carbon through the ZNC Building Initiative and City policy as Boston works toward carbon neutrality by 2050. Many members of CLF Boston are actively participating.

Deconstruction Hackathon

The Sustainable Performance Institute, supported by All For Reuse, BuildingEase, and the CLF Boston Reuse working group, hosted a Deconstruction Hackathon on April 28, 2021. Dozens of green building professionals from around the country attended to build upon the AIA’s guide Buildings that Last: Design for Adaptability, Deconstruction, and Reuse.

The working sessions were broken up by topic area, each with their own Miro board to capture expertise and strategies for typical design details shared by contributors, and these boards are available as a resource for anyone to read or contribute to. The aim is that, with more specific information about disassembly and deconstruction and what is needed to make these possible, building industry waste can be reduced—in turn reducing embodied carbon.

About CLF Boston

CLF Boston is a BSA Knowledge Community and the Boston Hub of the Carbon Leadership Forum. This group shares knowledge and identifies actions—immediate and long-term—for the AEC industry to address issues of embodied carbon in the built environment in Boston and beyond. The group aims to reduce carbon emissions through design and through changes in procedural behaviors that impact carbon emissions.

CLF Boston meets every other month. Several working groups—focused on developing specific programs and resources—meet monthly. Learn more here.