Realizing Climate Action Ambitions: Pathways to Decarbonization - 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)

Recorded On: 10/29/2023

How can landscape architects achieve the ASLA Climate Action Plan's goal for 50 percent emissions reductions by 2030? Discuss tools and case studies showing how to get to that goal, examine a critical review of our current understanding of carbon sequestration associated with ecological restoration, and explore options for firms to decarbonize.

Learning objectives:

Understand the implications of ASLA's Climate Action Plan targets, with real-world case studies showing baseline and 50 percent emissions reductions approaches.
Identify tips and tricks to find the "hidden carbon" in construction projects to preserve low-carbon design intent.
Explore the current understanding of carbon sequestration, restoration, and land management.
Determine the best option(s) for decarbonizing your firm from a roster of industry-tested management and cultural strategies for clients, design processes, and operations.

Christopher R. Ng-Hardy, ASLA, PLA

Senior Associate

Sasaki

Chris focuses on the integration of ecology and culture, with a commitment to craft in the built environment. Chris led Sasaki’s CarbonConscience research project team from 2019 to the present and serves as a current co-chair of the ASLA CAC Carbon Drawdown & Biodiversity subcommittee. 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 these tools and research to projects in the USA and EU. Chris believes that every project is not only a design opportunity but an opportunity to experiment and learn.

Anya Domlesky, ASLA

Director of Research

SWA Group

Anya Domlesky is an urban designer and landscape architect currently the Director of Research at SWA Group. She runs XL Lab, the firm’s innovation lab undertaking practice-based research. The lab explores near future conditions in the built environment, performs analyses of design performance, experiments with new technologies to create tools for the field, and does topical investigations that address emerging complexities and unprecedented challenges. As a designer, she has worked largely on issues around urbanization, coasts, and water. She holds an MLA from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and an M.Arch II from McGill University.

Nicholas Pevzner, ASLA

Assistant Professor

University of Pennsylvania

Nicholas Pevzner is an Assistant Professor in landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, where he teaches design studios and courses on urban ecology, urban design, and the history of energy systems and just transitions. His research focuses on the climate mitigation potential of natural climate solutions and renewable energy infrastructure.