Earth Day: Combat The Carbon Crisis | R.W. Kern Center

Buildings account for a whopping 39% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental advocates and green builders have long focused on operational energy efficiency and reduced fossil-fuel consumption as the most important strategies for sustainable building. But nearly a third of these emissions are from the energy used during construction and in producing building materials—embodied emissions. As our new buildings become more energy efficient, the embodied carbon emissions associated with construction become an even bigger proportion of a building’s total lifetime emissions. The world is building the equivalent of a whole New York City every month¹. If we don’t start reducing embodied carbon emissions now, we’ll build ourselves out of any possibility of meeting the global carbon reduction goals needed to halt climate change.

But we have the power to build differently! Not all building materials are carbon emissions nightmares. Some materials are actually carbon storing, meaning they pull carbon from the atmosphere and lock it away in their physical structure. Carbon Drawdown Now! shares the theory and technology behind carbon storing building materials, the innovative materials available now, and the global potential for carbon storage in the built environment. These low-carbon strategies can advance climate justice through building, and open up partnerships with allied industries in agriculture and forestry to find solutions to social, ecological, and economic problems.

The R.W. Kern Center and NESEA have partnered to share this important content with people across the Pioneer Valley and beyond. This webinar is for anyone interested in how buildings can become part of positive climate action. Jacob and Ace are experts at making complex content accessible to everyone, and we hope to see folks of all kinds participating from home: high school and college students, parents and their children, climate activists (and their roommates!). This topic may be of particular professional interest to designers, builders, policymakers, and others who have great power to help make better buildings for the climate. Everyone will log off with a concrete action they can take to reduce embodied carbon emissions in their buildings and lives.

Leading up to the event, we’ll also be featuring local products and organizations that help support lower-carbon living and building. Follow along on our social media to get connected to these great resources.

** This webinar is eligible for AIA continuing education credit. Please include your AIA number during registration if you would like to report these credits.

Please contact kern@hampshire.edu with questions.