We organize events that
empower industry professionals to
radically reduce embodied carbon
from buildings and infrastructure
CLF Ottawa
CLF Ottawa is a local hub of the Carbon Leadership Forum. We organize local events that empower industry professionals to radically reduce embodied carbon from buildings and infrastructure.
A diverse mix of professionals and academia joins our events, including architects, engineers, contractors, sustainability consultants, material suppliers, building owners, and policymakers. Our events include informative presentations and interactive group discussions that address a range of topics relating to embodied carbon. We aim to build up local industry capacity to design and construct buildings and infrastructure that radically reduce embodied carbon.
CLF Ottawa is connected to the larger global network of the Carbon Leadership Forum, which brings together 5000+ professionals from 2500+ companies, 75+ countries, and 1000+ cities around the world. Our goal is to raise awareness about the built environment embodied carbons and foster integration between academia and industry professionals.
Sign up for our mailing list to learn about upcoming events, and become a member of the Carbon Leadership Forum to join the online discussion with the global CLF community.
What is CLF?
The Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF) is accelerating the transformation of the building sector to radically reduce the embodied carbon in building materials and construction through collective action.
CLF pioneers research, creates resources, fosters cross-collaboration, and incubates member-led initiatives to bring embodied carbon emissions of buildings down to zero.
The CLF network is made up of architects, engineers, contractors, material suppliers, building owners, and policymakers who care about the future and are taking bold steps to decarbonize the built environment, with a keen focus on eliminating embodied carbon from buildings and infrastructure.
Currently, the network brings together 5000+ professionals from 2500+ companies, 75+ countries, and 1000+ cities around the world
Join the Online
CLF Community
The CLF Community online platform brings together thousands of professionals from across the building industry, from over 30 countries and 100 cities around the world.
As a member, you can interact with a global network of interdisciplinary experts, where you can post questions, find resources, connect with local hubs, join focus groups, to keep track of upcoming events.
To join the CLF Community online platform, become a member of CLF and and opt-in to join the online community when joining.
Past CLF Ottawa Events
Scale of Embodied Carbon Emissions
Globally, the building and construction sectors account for nearly 40% of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in constructing and operating buildings (including the impacts of upstream power generation). Current building codes address operating energy but do not typically address the impacts ‘embodied’ in building materials and products. However, more than half of all GHG emissions are related to materials management (including material extraction and manufacturing) when aggregated across industrial sectors. As building operations become more efficient, these embodied impacts related to producing building materials become increasingly significant.
Significance of Embodied Carbon
Between now and 2060 the world’s population will be doubling the amount of building floor-space, equivalent to building an entire New York City every month for 40 years. Much of the carbon footprint of these new buildings will take the form of embodied carbon — the emissions associated with building material manufacturing and construction.
Embodied carbon will be responsible for almost half of the total new construction emissions between now and 2050.
Unlike operational carbon emissions, which can be reduced over time with building energy efficiency renovations and the use of renewable energy, embodied carbon emissions have irreversibly entered the atmosphere as soon as a building is built.
City of Ottawa
Embodied Carbon Policy
The City of Ottawa Green Building Policy for the Construction of Corporate Buildings is first introduced in 2005 and is updated in 2015. it outlines the vitality and of the sustainability of building and by fully supporting the LEED green rating system which as introduced in LEED v4.1 supports reductions in embodied carbon and encouraging incorporating Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and using Environemnetal Product Declaration (EPD). Check here the City of Ottawa Owned Green Buildings
The city has estimated that Moving to zero emissions projected to return $87.7 billion by 2050.
Certification Systems that Address Embodied Carbon
Through the MRc1: Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction credit, projects can receive 1 LEED point just for performing an LCA study and up to 5 points for a 20% reduction in embodied carbon relative to a baseline building.
Requires calculating embodied carbon emissions through an LCA study starting at the Schematic Design phase. Also required to apply two "Impact and Innovation" strategies. 2 of the 5 pre-approved strategies are:
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An embodied carbon reduction of at least 20% compared to a baseline building.
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Upfront carbon emissions equal to or less than zero.
In ZCB Performance v2, embodied emissions are required to be offset.
ILFI Zero Carbon Certification
Projects must demonstrate a 10% reduction in embodied carbon and not exceed 500 kgCO2e/m2, with remaining embodied emissions offset through an approved carbon offset provider.
ILFI Living Building Challenge - Energy Petal
Projects must demonstrate a 20% reduction in embodied carbon, with remaining embodied emissions offset through an approved carbon offset provider.
Meet Our Team
Eslam Elshorbagy
Sustainable Construction Consultant
Mantle Developments
Nada Hegazy
Research Assistant
University of Ottawa
Nikhil Lakheda
Consultant
Turner & Townsend
Rachel Sutton
Senior Policy Analyst
Pembina Institute
Mark Brandt
Founding Partner, Conservation Architect
TRACE architectures
Phoebe Cullingham
Climate & Sustainability Manager
EllisDon
Mehdi Zahed
Professor of Architecture
Algonquin College
Agnes Bezerra
Professor/ Lecturer
Algonquin College /uOttawa