From Lab to Landscape: Opportunities for Scaling Biochar in Landscape Practice - 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW) / 1.0 GBCI SITES-Specific CE

Recorded On: 10/10/2025

This session connects academic design research, USDA-funded practice-based research, and municipal production experience to demonstrate how wood waste can be transformed into biochar—a high-value, carbon-sequestering product for urban forest and green infrastructure applications. This circular economy solution transforms waste management challenges into lasting climate mitigation opportunities, aligned with SITES v2 principles and credits.

Learning objectives:

Analyze the fundamental principles of biochar production and quality assessment, including its dual role in waste management and carbon sequestration.
Evaluate implementation strategies for biochar integration in urban forestry and green stormwater infrastructure applications in alignment with SITES v2 goals for Site Design - Water.
Assess biochar's role in circular economy frameworks that transform urban wood waste into carbon-sequestering, performance-enhancing landscape materials that meet SITES v2 waste and material lifecycle credits.
Understand the value of a multidisciplinary approach to practice-based research in biochar implementation, spanning academic research, private practice, and municipal production.

The GBCI course ID for this course is 920032552, providing SITES-specific CE hours required to maintain SITES AP credentials. Participants will need to pass the exam at the end of the presentation in order to receive a certificate of completion. Participants will need to self-report CE hours through their credentials account on https://sitesonline.usgbc.org.

Pia von Barby, ASLA, PLA

Landscape Architect

OLIN

Pia von Barby is a licensed landscape architect at OLIN and has been practicing landscape architecture since 2018. Her experience includes private, public, and institutional projects such as healthcare and corporate campuses, universities, multi-family housing, and high end residential projects. In addition to project-based work, Pia is deeply involved with OLIN's research and development group, OLIN Labs. Her research focuses on waste-based material design, including OLIN's Circular Soil and Biochar Initiatives. Pia's research involves a constellation of collaborators in the fields of soil science, engineering, geochemistry, biology, horticulture, economics, and more.

Nicholas Pevzner, ASLA

Assistant Professor

University of Pennsylvania

Nicholas Pevzner is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design. His research spans across the topics of ecological systems, energy landscapes, and climate policy. His teaching and research look for opportunities for decarbonization across sectors, investigating the impacts of climate policy on physical built environment, on cultural attitudes, and on implications for spatial justice. He teaches design studios, as well as courses on urban ecology, urban design, the history of energy systems, and post-carbon futures—including the spatial politics of energy transitions in culturally contested landscapes.

Sam Dunlap

Founder/Owner

Carbon Harvest LLC

Sam Dunlap founded Carbon Harvest LLC in 2020 with the mission of creating soil amendment products that impact climate change by diverting waste, capturing carbon and putting that carbon to use to regenerate the climate management functions of natural systems. His company has been selected as the operator and manager for the Cincinnati Biochar Project, which is slated to begin production in 2026. The project addresses environmental justice, city-wide sustainability goals, urban canopy and woodland restoration, waste reduction, climate resilience, and youth education/workforce development through an elegant and collaborative solution.