Principal David Arkin provides our firm’s perspective on the subject of Embodied Carbon in this interview with William Richards, also featuring Vanessa Hostick of HOK and Kit Elsworth of KieranTimberlake.  Architects working with bio-based materials (wood, straw, hemp and bamboo) have long maintained we can store carbon in our buildings, and be a part of climate change solutions.  

https://www.aia.org/pages/6476475-buildings-must-become-the-earths-sixth-car 

David serves on the AIA 2030 Commitment Working Group, which keeps track of the architecture profession’s progress towards carbon neutral buildings in its Design Data Exchange (Ddx).  Arkin Tilt Architects was among the 15 firms nationwide to achieve the 2020 target of an 80% reduction in the operational carbon impacts of their portfolio of projects.  ATA's goal is reporting of the embodied carbon impacts of at least half of our projects, with some of these achieving net carbon storage.  

Pictured is Dusty Sylvanson of Straw & Timber Craftsmen, builders of the project in Colorado mentioned in the interview.  The Justis Residence has a net embodied carbon impact of 30kgCO2e/m2, 1/10th the typical for this building type, with much of the carbon storage in its wood framing and straw bale and cellulose insulated walls, and cork insulation in the roofs. 

Edward Caldwell Photography https://www.edwardcaldwell.com