“Concrete buildings can have lower carbon intensity than steel buildings!” - Embodied Carbon in Focus with Jared Friedman

Jared Friedman, a Computational Product Manager at Walter P Moore, joins Most Podern to discuss the challenges and opportunities of incorporating embodied carbon calculations into the design process. The conversation discusses It emphasizes the importance of starting early in design, how to handle inevitable uncertainties, and the outsize role that data plays in delivering a sustainable building project. The conversation also touches on the role of policies and regulations in driving sustainability efforts, the need for better data collection and communication, and the potential for new solutions and technologies in the future. About Jared Jared Friedman is a computational product manager at Walter P Moore, a global engineering firm with offices around the world. He is a licensed architect, with a B.Arch from Carnegie Mellon University and a Masters in Design Studies with a focus on Computation and Robotics from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Jared has deep experience in parametric design, robotics, and construction technology. He's worked at places like Massaro, BuroHappold, and WeWork; and has previously taught seminars on BIM and computational design at Columbia's GSAPP. He’s also the author of the ec3-python-wrapper, an open source python package that makes it easier for Python developers to work with the Building Transparency EC3 API. Connecting with Jared Jared on LinkedIn Matterflows.com Keywords embodied carbon, design process, early calculations, uncertainties, large dataset, computational designers, tools, workflows, policies, regulations, data collection, communication, new solutions, technologies Chapter List 00:00 Personal Background and Interest in Sustainability 01:42 Sustainability in Personal and Professional Life 05:48 Computational Design as an Augmentation 07:13 Understanding Embodied Carbon 11:04 Introduction and Background 13:27 Recommendations and Guidelines for Embodied Carbon 16:06 Policies and Requirements for Embodied Carbon 19:04 Role of Computational Designers in Sustainability Practice 21:14 Customized Software and Plugins for Embodied Carbon Analysis 28:02 Interoperability and Openness in the Industry 31:07 EC3 and the Importance of Data in Embodied Carbon Analysis 38:36 The Future of Embodied Carbon Analysis 44:27 Data Practice and Backfilling Data 47:27 Risk Aversion and Trying New Things 49:19 Optimism for the Future of Sustainability in the Built Environment