Adaptive Reuse
Reusing an existing building for a new purpose. As an alternative to new construction, adaptive reuse can allow a project to significantly reduce its embodied carbon impact and participate in a circular economy.

Bio-Based Material or Biomaterial
A product that consists of a substance (or substances) derived from living matter (biomass).

Carbon Footprint
The total amount of greenhouse gas, particularly carbon dioxide, emitted as the result of a specific activity.

Carbon Positive
A city, development, building, or product that goes beyond carbon neutral to create an environmental benefit, and intentionally removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and turns it into useful forms.

Carbon Sequestration
The process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide that would otherwise be emitted or remain in the atmosphere.

Carbon Smart Material
A material that is low carbon, carbon neutral, or carbon sequestering.

Circular Economy
An alternative to the linear economy model (which is premised on extraction, production, and disposal) based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.

Electrification
The replacement of fossil fuel—based building systems (e.g. natural gas space and water heaters) with electric systems, which can be fossil fuel free if powered by on- or off-site renewable energy or a carbon-free electric grid.

Embodied Carbon
The CO₂ emitted during the extraction, manufacture, and transport of building materials and products, and the construction of buildings and infrastructure.

Embodied Energy
The energy consumed during the extraction, manufacture, and transport of building materials and products, and the construction of buildings and infrastructure.

Energy Upgrade
Improving the energy efficiency of building operations and shifting to electric systems powered by the procurement or on-site generation of renewable energy.

Environmental Product Declaration
An internationally accepted, verified, and published report that communicates transparent information about the environmental impacts of a product throughout its life cycle.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
A standardized, data-driven method of tracking and reporting the environmental impacts of a product or process throughout its full life cycle.

Mass Timber
A type of structural system that utilizes large solid or engineered wood panels and framing members.

Operational Energy
The amount of energy that a building consumes for heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, equipment, and appliances.

Renewable Procurement
The attainment or acquisition of renewable energy not generated on-site, by purchase of renewable energy credits, shares in community solar, or other means.

Zero-Net-Carbon
A highly energy-efficient building that produces on-site, or procures, enough carbon-free renewable energy to meet building operations energy consumption annually.

• The Carbon Issue

  Meeting the urgent need for climate action, with decarbonization strategies for materials, design, practice, and policy.

  

• It’s Time to Quit: A Call to Action on Climate, Carbon, and the Built Environment

  Adapted from the opening and closing keynotes given by Edward Mazria, FAIA, at the CarbonPositive’19 Summit in Chicago.

  

• The Language of Carbon

  Thinking about COPY 27, here's a refresher of seventeen terms that will help you talk the talk of carbon positive design.

  

• Sustainable Building Materials for Low Embodied Carbon

  Here are eight of the most carbon-friendly products for roofing, cladding, insulation, and other categories—all of which are available for specification, or soon to be.

  

• Concrete, Steel, or Wood: Searching for Zero-Net-Carbon Structural Materials

  Steel and concrete predominate the U.S. commercial building market for structural materials, while engineered wood—specifically mass timber—is garnering attention for its potential embodied carbon savings and sequestration ability.

  

• How to Measure Embodied Carbon

  Here's a hand guide on some tips and tools to help determine the carbon footprint of a project or product.

  

• Five Construction Details to Reduce Embodied and Operational Carbon

  It's time to rethink details that perpetuate the widespread use of energy-intensive materials.

  

• Renovation, Restoration, and Adaptive Reuse: The Understated Value of Existing Buildings

  It’s not enough to design super-efficient new buildings. To reach zero-net carbon, architects have to improve performance in existing buildings, and make the most of the embodied carbon we’ve already spent on them.

  

• With Housing’s Carbon Footprint, Density Matters

  A new e-book from Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture analyzes the embodied carbon and other attributes of nine housing types to uncover ideal residential densities—those that improve quality of life while minimizing their environmental impact.

  

• Aim Higher: How to Transition Your Firm to Zero Net Carbon

  Looking for tangible steps to committing to zero-net-carbon design? Here, three very different practices—Studio Ma, BWBR, and Gensler—share their ongoing journeys.