CLF Toronto
CLF Toronto is a local hub of the Carbon Leadership Forum, and was previously known as the Embodied Carbon Network (ECN) Toronto chapter. We organize local events that empower industry professionals to radically reduce embodied carbon from buildings and infrastructure.
A diverse mix of professionals joins our events, including architects, engineers, contractors, sustainability consultants, material suppliers, building owners, and policymakers. Our events include informative presentations and interactive group discussions that address a range of topics relating to embodied carbon. We aim to build up local industry capacity to design and construct buildings and infrastructure that radically reduce embodied carbon.
CLF Toronto is connected to the larger global network of the Carbon Leadership Forum, which brings together 5000+ professionals from 2500+ companies, 75+ countries, and 1000+ cities around the world.
Sign up for our mailing list to learn about upcoming events, and become a member of the Carbon Leadership Forum to join the online discussion with the global CLF community.
What is CLF?
The Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF) is accelerating the transformation of the building sector to radically reduce the embodied carbon in building materials and construction through collective action.
CLF pioneers research, creates resources, fosters cross-collaboration, and incubates member-led initiatives to bring embodied carbon emissions of buildings down to zero.
The CLF network is made up of architects, engineers, contractors, material suppliers, building owners, and policymakers who care about the future and are taking bold steps to decarbonize the built environment, with a keen focus on eliminating embodied carbon from buildings and infrastructure.
Currently, the network brings together 5000+ professionals from 2500+ companies, 75+ countries, and 1000+ cities around the world
Join the Online
CLF Community
The CLF Community online platform brings together thousands of professionals from across the building industry, from over 30 countries and 100 cities around the world.
As a member, you can interact with a global network of interdisciplinary experts, where you can post questions, find resources, connect with local hubs, join focus groups, to keep track of upcoming events.
To join the CLF Community online platform, become a member of CLF and and opt-in to join the online community when joining.
Events
- Wed, Jan 22WebinarJan 22, 2025, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. ESTWebinar
Past Events and Webinars
Scale of Embodied Carbon Emissions
Globally, the building and construction sectors account for nearly 40% of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in constructing and operating buildings (including the impacts of upstream power generation). Current building codes address operating energy but do not typically address the impacts ‘embodied’ in building materials and products. However, more than half of all GHG emissions are related to materials management (including material extraction and manufacturing) when aggregated across industrial sectors. As building operations become more efficient, these embodied impacts related to producing building materials become increasingly significant.
Significance of Embodied Carbon
Between now and 2060 the world’s population will be doubling the amount of building floor-space, equivalent to building an entire New York City every month for 40 years. Much of the carbon footprint of these new buildings will take the form of embodied carbon — the emissions associated with building material manufacturing and construction.
Embodied carbon will be responsible for almost half of the total new construction emissions between now and 2050.
Unlike operational carbon emissions, which can be reduced over time with building energy efficiency renovations and the use of renewable energy, embodied carbon emissions have irreversibly entered the atmosphere as soon as a building is built.
City of Toronto
Embodied Carbon Policy
The Toronto Green Standard (TGS) v4 comes into effect on May 1, 2022. As of now, the mandatory tier 1 has no embodied carbon requirements for private buildings, however, the mid-high rise residential and non-residential version's voluntary tier 2 requires the calculation and reporting of the embodied carbon in the building structure and envelope to meet a carbon intensity of 350 kgCO2e/m2, while voluntary tier 3 level requires a carbon intensity of 250 kgCO2e/m2.
The low-rise residential version's voluntary tier 2 requires embodied carbon to be below 250 kgCO2e/m2. Note that all the TGS embodied carbon requirements may be updated based on a number of studies currently underway.
Waterfront Toronto Green Building Requirements v3 requires projects subject to Waterfront Toronto requirements to conduct a whole lifecycle carbon assessment (LCA) during schematic design for the building structure and envelope in accordance with the CaGBC Zero Carbon Building Standard version 2 methodology. In addition, projects are to update at detailed design based on up to date design.
Certification Systems that Address Embodied Carbon
Through the MRc1: Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction credit, projects can receive 1 LEED point for conducting conducting a life cycle assessment of the project’s structure and enclosure. Projects can receive up to 3 points if the LCA demonstrates a minimum of 10% reduction, compared with a baseline building, in at least three of the six impact categories listed below, one of which must be global warming potential. Up to 4 points are rewarded for a 20% reduction from baseline along with incorporating reused or salvaged materials into the building design.
Zero Carbon Building Standard version 3 requires all project teams to meet a minimum embodied carbon standard of 500 kg C02/m2 or 10% GWP reduction from a baseline building. Two "Impact and Innovation" strategies may be rewarded as higher thresholds of performance. The two "Impact and Innovation" strategies are:
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≤ 350 CO2e/m2 or 20% GWP reduction from baseline
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≤ 240 CO2e/m2 or 40% GWP reduction from baseline
In ZCB Performance v3, embodied emissions are required to be offset.
ILFI Zero Carbon Certification
Projects must demonstrate a 10% reduction in embodied carbon and not exceed 500 kgCO2e/m2, with remaining embodied emissions offset through an approved carbon offset provider.
ILFI Living Building Challenge - Energy Petal
Projects must demonstrate a 20% reduction in embodied carbon, with remaining embodied emissions offset through an approved carbon offset provider.
Meet Our Team
Heather Belsey
Senior Associate
CannonDesign
Meghan Wilson
Senior Manager, Sustainability
The Daniels Corporation
Zeina Elali
Senior Manager, ESG & Decarbonization
KPMG