Let's Talk About Sequestration - 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW) / 1.0 GBCI SITES-Specific CE

Recorded On: 09/16/2026

It’s time we had an uncomfortable conversation about carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration is complex, incremental, and subject to reversal. We need to be able to design and speak to its power with authenticity and accuracy. Frameworks like SITES v2 show us a pathway to maximize carbon sequestration potential, if we hope to achieve our climate action goals.

Learning objectives:

Review the mechanisms of carbon sequestration and key methods for modeling potential, as well as understanding the scale and magnitude of carbon sequestration in comparison with construction emissions.
Step back and understand the context, biases, and challenges with carbon sequestration models for urban and suburban environments, when the majority of research has stemmed from agricultural and forestry sciences.
Explore key lessons and uncertainties of carbon sequestration, including sometimes unexpected and interconnected relationships between plants, soil, precipitation, temperature, and human use, and the related reversibility risks.
Apply best practices for optimizing carbon sequestration in landscape design and operations across a variety of climates, as found in the SITES v2 objectives.

The GBCI course ID for this course is 0920034920, 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.

Christopher R. Hardy, ASLA, PLA

Associate Principal

Sasaki

Chris focuses on integrating ecology and culture, with a commitment to exemplary craft in the built environment. Chris led Sasaki’s CarbonConscience research project team. Chris also works with the National Recreation and Park Association to research best practices for sustainable parks from 2024 to the present. Through these efforts, Chris has been translating literature reviews and decarbonizing design strategies into tools and educational resources for designers and planners. Chris is actively applying this research to projects in the USA and the EU. Chris believes that every project is not only a design opportunity but an opportunity to experiment and learn.

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.

Jonah Susskind, ASLA

Director of Climate Strategy

SWA

Jonah Susskind is Director of Climate Strategy at SWA, an international landscape architecture, urban planning, and design firm. In addition to leading decarbonization efforts across the firm’s global portfolio, Jonah directs applied research related to wildfire risk mitigation, coastal resilience, and climate adaptation. He has held research and teaching appointments at MIT and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He holds a master's degree in landscape architecture from the GSD and a BFA in critical visual studies from Pratt Institute.