Tracking Whole Life Carbon for LA 2040 - 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW) / 1.0 GBCI SITES-Specific CE

Recorded On: 09/16/2026

Whole life carbon provides the context for tracking the embodied, operational, sequestered, and stored carbon of a site project. Presenters will introduce a new carbon assessment methodology developed by the ASLA Climate and Biodiversity Action Committee and explore its connections to larger industry initiatives, aligned with SITES v2 principles of reducing carbon emissions.

Learning objectives:

Read and apply the whole life carbon assessment methodology guide, which outlines processes for tracking whole life site carbon.
Identify go-to sources of embodied, operational, and carbon sequestration data.
Describe the LA 2040's alignment with allied industry efforts, including the carbon commitment ecosystem and carbon credits in sustainability certifications, such as SITES v2.
Connect with resources, such as SITES v2, that advise on how to reduce a project's embodied and operational carbon emissions.

The GBCI course ID for this course is 0920034919, 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.

Meg Calkins, FASLA, FCELA, SITES AP

Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning

North Carolina State University

Meg Calkins, FASLA, is a Professor of Landscape Architecture at NC State University. She has taught and written about resilient site design and sustainable construction for over twenty-five years. Meg's current book is Details and Materials for Resilient Sites: A Climate Positive Approach. It was published by Routledge in July 2025. Meg is also the author of Materials for Sustainable Sites (2008) and editor of the Sustainable Sites Handbook (2012). Meg served as Chair of the American Society of Landscape Architects 2025 Climate and Biodiversity Action Plan Task Force. She currently serves on the Landscape Architecture Foundation Board of Directors.

Alejandra Hinojosa, Affil. ASLA

Senior Sustainability Specialist

LPA Design Studios

As Sustainability Specialist within LPA’s Sustainability + Applied Research (S+AR) Team, Alejandra is focused on process and progress. LPA Design Studios is a multidisciplinary firm that prioritizes an integrated approach to sustainability which allows Alejandra a unique window of opportunity to effect change at a project, discipline, and firm-wide level. Her passion for environmentalism fuels her capacity to advocate for solutions that drive decarbonization and consider the triple bottom line: people, planet, prosperity. Always thinking about how we can design our built environment to prioritize both our ecosystems and our neighbors.