Episode 22

Total Carbon Analysis with Today’s Technology Tools

Earn 1 AIA LU

While there is no easy path to zero carbon emissions in the built environment, as architects and designers we can play the role of carbon hero – if we can get the right tools to unlock our super-powers. Our most impactful decisions are made during the planning and concept phase, when big decisions are made and we can analyse a site. Then, again, during the detailed design stage, a 3D model holds the key to carbon measurement. Join this interview to hear from three architects and industry leaders who are developing the next generation tools for environmental and carbon analysis. We will explore how new technologies and workflows empower the architecture industry to reduce the total carbon footprint of the built environment.

Learning Objectives

• Explore why embodied carbon analysis needs to start at the very beginning of the design process and continue through to your BIM model. A full scale carbon analysis involves both early stage environment site analysis and measuring the embodied and operational carbon in your model.
• Identify the challenges architects face when looking to make a positive impact on the carbon footprint of their projects, and understand why there’s no “silver bullet” tool for measuring embodied carbon.
• Understand how AI-driven carbon insights can positively impact the architectural design workflow, providing a better understanding of the carbon impacts from primary material choices and building form during site feasibility and massing studies.
• Appreciate the importance of an integrated design process, and how beginning with carbon insights in pre-design and continuing throughout the design phases, can help identify opportunities to achieve synergies across disciplines.

Moderator: Jack Murphy

Jack Rusk

Director of Climate Strategy, Co-Founder

EHDD

Jack Rusk

Jack Rusk is the Director of Climate Strategy at EHDD, an architecture firm with offices in San Francisco and Seattle, and a co-founder of C.Scale, a start-up building tools for data-driven building decarbonization.

Ellis Herman

Product Manager

Autodesk

Ellis Herman

Ellis is the product manager for Forma’s embodied carbon analysis and has led the development of other sustainability-focused functionality in Forma. Ellis is passionate about using machine learning to make sustainability tools accessible to all designers and decision makers in the earliest, most impactful stages of design.

Ian Molloy

Senior Product Line Manager

Autodesk

Ian Molloy

Ian Molloy is a Senior Product Line Manager with the Autodesk Building Design Group. Ian has over 25 years experience in the AEC industry and the development of software for the Design, Analysis and Optimization of Building Systems from Design to Operation. Ian has BSc. Eng (Hons) in Building Science and Mechanical Engineering and a degree in Mathematics. Ian is also a LEED Accredited Professional and Certified Scrum Product Owner. Based in Boston, Ian works with Autodesk business and software development teams, customers and partners all working towards helping the AEC industry design and make higher performing, more sustainable buildings.

Jack Murphy

Executive Editor

The Architect’s Newspaper

Jack Murphy

Jack Murphy is Executive Editor of The Architect’s Newspaper. Previously he was Editor of Cite: The Architecture and Design Review of Houston and an adjunct professor at the University of Houston. His writing has appeared in Architectural Record, Dwell, The Architect’s Newspaper, Texas Architect, Places, Cite, PLAT, Paprika!, the SF Gate, the Houston Chronicle, and the New York Review of Architecture, among other publications. He received an Honorable Mention for the Pierre Vago Journalism Award 2020 from the International Committee of Architecture Critics. He earned degrees in architecture from MIT and Rice University and contributed to award-winning architectural practices in Texas, New York, and Massachusetts.