This vignette is piece of a multi-part series that will highlight the work being done surrounding Washington State Executive Order 20-01. The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) has been working closely with Washington State for nearly two years to support agencies in their development of Zero Energy projects. ILFI has developed a toolkit of resources for project teams in the state to help them understand definitions around Zero Energy, build powerful teams, and set appropriate targets in order to make designing and building to Zero Energy a feasible goal. Each vignette will shine a light on a project, meeting, or event wherein Zero Energy work was the forefront of the conversation as teams work diligently to implement the Executive Order and achieve their Zero Energy goals.  

Project Name: Washington State Toolkit Training

Program: Zero Carbon

Event: SEEP Embodied Carbon Brown Bag (Olympia, WA)

Keywords: embodied carbon, local government, life cycle assessment

Highlights: ILFI provided a high level introduction to embodied carbon to agency representatives, discussing how they can reduce it within any upcoming projects they may have. The Department of Enterprise Services (DES) and ILFI collaborated to produce an Embodied Carbon in New Construction Checklist to help guide project teams to support them in making big moves to reduce their project impacts. 

Next Steps: ILFI and DES are soliciting feedback from agency representatives in order to provide the most valuable information and support to them. After feedback is collated, ILFI and DES will continue to develop resources accordingly in order to reduce the embodied carbon of new WA state buildings. 

Written By

ILFI Staff

The International Living Future Institute’s mission is to lead the transformation toward a civilization that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative.