Towards Zero Carbon: Developing a Roadmap for the Structural Engineering Profession and the Structural Engineering Institute, ASCE
The imperative to reduce carbon in the built environment continues to gain strength and urgency. The Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE invites you to come join us and participate in a two-day workshop to develop a roadmap towards zero carbon! This workshop will provide a fresh opportunity to collaborate with leaders across diverse fields — from materials experts and design and construction professionals to educators and policy advocates — in establishing priority initiatives that will shape the Structural Engineering Institute’s leadership role in driving carbon reductions for the profession. Participants will gain invaluable insights into the current state of the art and help contribute to defining success for the industry. Don’t miss this chance to be at the forefront of new sustainability initiatives in structural engineering! Together, we can create the path towards the zero carbon future we all want to see.
Workshop Overview
This workshop includes three objectives:
1) To understand the current state of the art in the profession for mitigating embodied carbon through structural designs for building construction;
2) To define what success looks like in 2050; and
3) To establish priority initiatives for SEI, and its committees, to define the necessary path required to successfully advance carbon reductions for the structural engineering profession by target dates of 2030 and 2050.
Workshop participants will include experts from across a wide range of fields beyond structural engineers that include material extraction, production, fabrication, and distribution; architectural and structural engineering design including LCA and database use; construction and deconstruction; and policy, advocacy, and education.
Workshop Background
The structural engineering profession is increasingly embracing new strategies for sustainable design and use of structures. Both embodied carbon and operational carbon within the built environment are prime targets for innovative approaches for structural design; materials, product development and fabrication; and transportation and construction processes. As part of the broader community of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Structural Engineering Institute is well positioned within the U.S. and internationally to take a leadership role on establishing a new paradigm for sustainable design within structural engineering. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together experts across a broad scope of the profession who can impact embodied carbon in buildings and other structures so that we may (1) chart a roadmap for the structural engineering profession to progress towards zero embodied carbon and (2) establish priority initiatives for the Structural Engineering Institute to continue to be a leader in driving embodied carbon reductions of structures over the next 25 years.
