Sustainable Design

In 2021-2022, the conversation around climate action shifted from a focus on net zero performance to total carbon.

As a metric, total carbon combines operational carbon over a set duration, embodied carbon from construction materials and processes, and carbon sequestered by landscapes and biobased materials over time. This project shows the complexities of mapping total carbon as a zero-energy community college building on a large parcel of land. Using EHDD’s EPIC Tool, the scenario for reducing total carbon, and possibly making it climate positive, is illustrated below.

Climate Positive: 2052

PVCC: As Built

PVCC: Wood frame (not CLT) construction, everything else the same.