Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA) recently released its SE 2050 Embodied Carbon Action Plan (ECAP) for 2022.
The plan contains two-dozen pledged action items including:
· Track, measure, and report on material quantities and carbon footprint reductions for selected MKA projects, including two projects to be used as case studies for external publication, and four projects to be submitted to SE 2050 for inclusion in their database.
· Engage in advancing and developing non-proprietary, open-source embodied carbon and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) tracking tools. MKA will provide both in-kind and funding support toward the development of the OpenIMPACT Life Cycle Inventory database and the tallyCAT LCA tool.
· Continue work by MKA’s in-house Sustainability Technical Specialist Team, which shares innovations, discusses strategies, reviews case study successes, and serves as a resource on embodied carbon reduction. MKA will make at least six presentations to industry peers to highlight advancements, foster collaboration, and challenge each other on reducing embodied carbon.
· Create an embodied carbon guide to establish its approach toward measuring embodied carbon—from the materials procurement to construction to the Whole Building LCA.
Earlier this year, MKA, in collaboration with Hines, released the Hines Embodied Carbon Reduction Guide. Developed over two years, the free 108-page guide aims to create more sustainable development practices at Hines while establishing an industry standard for quantifying, tracking, and reducing embodied carbon in commercial real estate development.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
'Flexible' building designed to physically respond to the environment
The ecoFLEX project, designed by a team from Shepley Bulfinch, has won a prestigious 2009 Unbuilt Architecture Design Award from the Boston Society of Architects. EcoFLEX features heat-sensitive assemblies composed of a series of bi-material strips. The assemblies’ form modulate with the temperature to create varying levels of shading and wind shielding, flexing when heated to block sunlight and contracting when cooled to allow breezes to pass through the screen.
| Aug 11, 2010
Payette completes Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute
Payette, a leading architectural design firm specializing in complex buildings for medical and scientific research, academic teaching, and healthcare, announced today the Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony was held on June 26, 2009. The new 176,000 square foot Cancer Institute is located on the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Campus in University Park, Pa.
| Aug 11, 2010
New book provides energy efficiency guidance for hotels
Recommendations on achieving 30% energy savings over minimum code requirements are contained in the newly published Advanced Energy Design Guide for Highway Lodging. The energy savings guidance for design of new hotels provides a first step toward achieving a net-zero-energy building.
| Aug 11, 2010
Pella Corporation ranks highest in customer satisfaction
Pella Corporation has earned the prestigious J.D. Power and Associates award for “Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Window and Patio Door Manufacturers” for the third year in a row.
| Aug 11, 2010
Oregon office building earns highest green globes rating
Columbia Square, a 313,000 square foot office building and flagship property in the Melvin Mark Companies real estate portfolio, has been awarded 4 Globes by the Green Building Initiative (GBI) for achievements in green design and sustainable operations. The building was rated under the Green Globes environmental design and assessment tool and the 4 Globes designation is the highest possible rating.
| Aug 11, 2010
Perkins+Will master plans Vedanta University teaching hospital in India
Working together with the Anil Agarwal Foundation, Perkins+Will developed the master plan for the Medical Precinct of a new teaching hospital in a remote section of Puri, Orissa, India. The hospital is part of an ambitious plan to develop this rural area into a global center of education and healthcare that would be on par with Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford.
| Aug 11, 2010
Burt Hill, HOK top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 100 largest university design firms
A ranking of the Top 100 University Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants