Feature image: USGBC Minnesota recently hosted a decarbonization forum. Image credit: Brent Suski.

The USGBC Minnesota community continued its quarterly meeting series by recently gathering for a decarbonization forum. USGBC and our partners define decarbonization as the goal of ending our dependence on oil and gas as power sources to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which raise global temperatures.

During the forum, members of the community explored the topic through presentations on case studies. Presenters shared the consistent and hopeful message that decarbonization is not only possible, but also makes financial sense.

The four presentations during the forum addressed how this definition manifests in our state, climate and professional practice.

Presentations

Four presentations were given during the decarbonization forum. Presentation titles and presenters were:

1. Decarbonization 101: The Threat of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Emerging Opportunities

Asa Posner, LEED AP BD+C, O+M; vice president of sales, Sustainable Investment Group, LLC (SIG)
Michelle Watanabe, LEED AP, AIA, NCARB, CDT, CCS; studio leader and director, NELSON Worldwide

2. The Heights: Decarbonization at the Community Scale

Monte Hilleman, vice president of environmental resiliency, compliance and investment, SIG
Becky Alexander, architect and researcher, LHB, Inc.

3. How to Calculate the Wood Carbon Footprint: Expanding the Possibilities of Wood Building Design

Edie Sonne Hall, Ph.D.; founder and principal, Three Trees Consulting

4. Decarb the Parks: National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation

Chris Baker, AIA, PE; project executive, Willdan

When presentations were not in session, forum attendees mingled and caught up. Photo courtesy of Brent Suski.

Key takeaways

The decarbonization forum left attendees with several key takeaways.

Attendees gained a better understanding of how decarbonization is being addressed through LEED. LEED credits for Energy and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Management and LEED for Cites and Communities help teams develop plans for carbon-free communities.
The St. Paul Port Authority is developing an innovative carbon-free community model that will feature equitable housing, green jobs, green workforce training and transportation infrastructure. The workforce agreement model in this community is based on four pillars: diversity, equity and inclusion; wealth creation; geographic focus; and a granular definition of quality jobs. The community design benefits all four of these areas.
Attendees learned how wood will play a critical role in decarbonizing the built environment. They also learned about the various ways to track and ensure forest sustainability. In addition, attendees gleaned a deeper understanding of product life cycle assessments and environmental product declarations so that they may choose the lowest-carbon and longest-lasting building materials for their own projects.
The decarbonization of our national parks has begun at the five national parks on Lake Superior. Attendees learned about trade-offs between lowest-cost decarbonization and full decarbonization through an inspiring case study. Attendees left with a better understanding of the trade-offs between various heat pump technologies and how best to evaluate a building’s existing energy consumption. The forum concluded with the hopeful message that decarbonization is not only possible, but that, in the long view, it also makes good financial sense.

Stewards of our climate

During the event, members were asked thought-provoking questions pertaining to decarbonization in our community.

Our members recognize that there is a role to play as individual stewards of our climate. Our members are working to decarbonize their personal lives by upgrading household appliances and installing cold climate air source heat pumps. They’re also increasing the miles they bike on a day-to-day basis.

Our members are taking steps toward decarbonization in their personal lives.

In addition to the role that families and individuals are playing to support GHG emission reductions, both our members and our speakers argued for large-scale strategies that will help to decarbonize our economy. Top takeaways from our members include:

Decarbonization must be treated as a bigger priority.
More effort needs to be made to develop operational and embodied carbon reductions at a city and community infrastructure scale—like those being made at the Heights.

There is also an opportunity in the state of Minnesota to leverage the expertise and infrastructure of the agricultural industry to create a market for bio-based materials. Currently, agriculture makes up 9% of the Minnesota economy, providing a strong foundation for further research and development into bio-based materials that have reduced embodied carbon and applicability in the building market.

Members believe that large-scale investments into decarbonization must be made to work toward decarbonizing in our state.

Resources

To encourage our members and event attendees to take further action, presenters shared USGBC resources, including:

The decarbonization resource page
A policy paper on beneficial electrification
The webpage for LEED v4.1 for Cities and Communities

Register for our Aug. 16 meeting on human health and materials

USGBC Minnesota holds decarbonization forum