Location: Laurentian Main campus, room C-112
1.5 ConEd Learning Hours
1.5 AIA LU
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Over the past two years, the Ha/f Research Studio at the University of Toronto has engaged more than 20 projects and practice across Ontario through case study investigations of project embodied and operational emissions. Masters students have conducted Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) of recently completed projects with the intention of developing both an understanding of the drivers of embodied carbon and a database against which to benchmark future progress. Their goal is to catalyze a discussion around embodied carbon, and instigate the development of policies and code requirements aimed at driving innovation and reduction of upfront embodied emissions in Ontario.
Subsequently, the City of Toronto Green Standard (TGS) team suggested jointly pursuing a grant to build upon the outreach and data collection on which to develop future policy. Through funding from The Atmospheric Fund, the Ha/f Research Studio partnered with Mantle Developments and the TGS team to engage stakeholders across the industry to develop a Policy Primer that will inform forthcoming TGS embodied carbon requirements.
Through this process, Ha/f engaged with Diamond and Schmitt Architects Inc. (DSAI) to assess the embodied carbon of a Toronto project—an analysis that revealed 800 tonnes of easily achievable reductions through DD-stage specification changes. Subsequently, DSAI and Ha/f have been working together to conduct LCAs of their projects across Canada, and reviewing the firm’s base specifications to help make the dramatic reductions required of our profession.
Learning Objectives
- Understand Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and the time-value of a building’s embodied and operational carbon on climate change.
- Gain an overview of the Toronto Green Standard’s (TGS) forthcoming embodied carbon policy’s development, engagement process, and implications on practice.
- Learn the methodology for tracking and reducing embodied carbon in design processes.
- Understand how practices like Diamond and Schmitt Architects are applying embodied carbon assessment across their practice and what impacts it has had internally and externally.
Kelly Alvarez Doran, OAA, is senior director of performance and provenance at MASS, where he supports principals and designers to embed environmental objectives into all of the practice’s projects, as well as leads climate-focused research and the training of the entire team. Previously, Kelly led MASS’s Kigali office overseeing the growth of the practice from a team of eight to 80 over a five-year period. He led the design and implementation of several of MASS’s projects across East Africa, notably the award-winning Munini District Hospital and Rwanda Ministry of Health’s Typical Hospital Plans, Nyarugenge District Hospital, headquarters for both One Acre Fund and Andela in Kenya, and the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture. Kelly holds professorships at the Bartlett and at the University of Toronto where his Ha/f Research Studio is focused on the whole life carbon of the built environment. The outcomes of this research has informed the ongoing development of embodied carbon policy for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
Jeffrey Mitchell, OAA, CPHD, infuses environmental design into every aspect of his projects by integrating sustainable technical, cultural, and material considerations that achieve efficient and elegant solutions for users. As Chair of Diamond Schmitt’s Sustainability Committee, his commitment to crafting beautiful and climate-responsive buildings is channeled through innovation, and by empowering teams to set their own action-focused environmental goals. Jeff is a licensed architect and a Certified Passive House Designer. He received his Bachelor of Architectural Science and Master of Architecture from the Toronto Metropolitan University with a focus on architectural systems and their integration through contemporary and innovative building science practice. Joining Diamond Schmitt in 2012, he has led complex institutional projects across Canada, including academic, civic, healthcare, science, and residential buildings. His work includes a leadership roles in the comprehensive integrated user engagement and design for the Cameron Community Centre and Library in Burnaby, the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning building at McMaster University in Hamilton, the Fredericton Playhouse competition, and the Environmental Science and Chemistry Building at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus.