Over seventy attendees participated in SEAOSC’s technical summit, “Sustainability in Structural Design.” In the first all-day in-person training of its kind, engineers heard from industry leading presenters giving a comprehensive education on “Embodied Carbon 101” (Megan Stringer, Holmes) as well as “An Owner’s Approach to Carbon” (Sara Neff, Lendlease). Buro Happold’s Michael Hoehn shared about the available tools for calculating embodied carbon and projected future developments for automated workflows using the open-source BHoM tool. The morning concluded with a view of the policy landscape shaping design and product procurement by Natasha Balwit, and California state Assemblymember, Chris Holden, speaking to the group via video on his proposed “Carbon Intensity of Construction and Building Materials Act.” Fourteen SE 2050 signatory firms participated in discussing their embodied carbon action plans over lunch, which lead into an afternoon session that was geared at pragmatic carbon reduction strategies. The group heard from industry representatives: Brandon Wray (NRMCA), Mike Romanowski (Woodworks) and Aleeta Dene (APA Engineered Wood Association), and Andrea Chiu (Nucor). Lastly, the day concluded with three case studies by practitioners: 843 N Spring Street by Tye Bailey (LEVER) and Rachelle Habchi (Glotman Simpson), Intuit Arena by Margaux Burkholder (Walter P Moore), and a tech campus by Gina Kope (Holmes).

After a full day, the stimulated group then continued the conversation over happy hour.