Climate Action Council

Embodied Carbon

Embodied Carbon Management Toolkit – Training Workshop for Ontario Municipalities

The City of Toronto has collaborated with consultants Mantle Developments and Ha/f Climate Design through a TAF-funded study to develop an embodied carbon toolkit for municipal governments and construction projects. The toolkit presents recommendations to manage embodied carbon over three key topics:

  1. Construction Circularity
  2. Urban Design
  3. Procurement of Low-Carbon Materials

This webinar provided background context and introduced the Toolkit, inviting Ontario municipalities to consider using it to reduce embodied carbon on future projects.

Additional Resources

If you would like a copy of the slide deck, please contact us at cap@cleanairpartnership.org

Municipal Energy Managers Meeting – Decarbonization & High Efficiency Electrification of Heating Systems

The electrification of heating systems plays a significant role in building decarbonization, and heat pumps are emerging as a solution. In this webinar, Lukas Glaspell from Trane Technologies – a building technology and energy solutions company – talked about the low-carbon mechanical systems available thus far. He presented real-world examples of decarbonization routes/options. We learned about leading practices and the cost-effectiveness of electrifying heating systems.

For a copy of the slide deck, please email cap@cleanairpartnership.org

New Design Resources for Embodied Carbon Targets

Toronto Metropolitan University and RDH Building Science, with funding from The Atmospheric Fund, have completed a project to create guidelines for measuring the carbon footprint of building enclosures. They’ve launched a public database that lists the material quantities of enclosure assemblies, useful for calculating embodied carbon early in the design process—without needing detailed drawings.

This resource aids in making early design decisions on aspects like insulation and cladding, in relation to their carbon impact. It also supports the revision of embodied carbon performance targets in building standards by providing up-to-date material data. This, in turn, helps inform manufacturers and designers about key factors affecting the carbon impact of enclosure systems, as well as the effects of integrating new low-carbon materials into these systems.

For a copy of the slide deck, please email cap@cleanairpartnership.org