Measuring What Matters: Embodied Carbon Insights from Our 2025 SE 2050 Submission
Why Embodied Carbon Starts with Structure
In integrated design, every discipline shapes a building’s carbon footprint, but structural decisions carry particular weight. The choices made early, about systems, materials, and form, lock in a significant portion of a building’s embodied carbon before other design variables are even resolved. That’s the core reason SMRT are signatories in the SE 2050 Commitment, and why, year over year, we keep refining how we engage with embodied carbon across the full project team.
What This Year’s Data Shows
This year’s submission reflects real progress. We recorded 5 new projects into our SE 2050 dashboard, with a structural embodied carbon intensity average of 165 kgCOâ‚‚e/m² and 2,800 metric tons of biogenic carbon stored across the portfolio. Those numbers represent tangible design decisions: intentional specification writing to guide contractors toward lower-carbon materials, early structural comparisons that shifted material choices before they were locked in, and a growing internal culture of asking the carbon question earlier in the process.
Early Decisions Carry the Most Weight
One of the clearest patterns we have seen across our SE 2050 work is that the earlier you engage with embodied carbon, the more options you have. At the conceptual phase, we are working with order-of-magnitude estimates: high-level comparisons of structural options before a design is set. By design development, we are running actual material takeoffs and comparing alternatives with more precision. Each phase refines the picture. The decisions that matter most happen before the structure is fixed, and that is where we are focused.
Knowing When to Ask for Help
We have also learned that our own comfort zone is a constraint worth examining. Human nature is to default to what we know. When a project calls for something outside that range, whether mass timber, novel systems, or unfamiliar procurement approaches, the instinct is often hesitation. We have found that seeking design assistance from external resources, organizations like WoodWorks that bring deep expertise in lower-carbon structural options, gives our teams the confidence to move forward rather than default to familiar solutions. It is that kind of straightforward thinking that changes outcomes.
Where the Real Friction Is
The harder lessons are systemic. Without enacted policy or meaningful incentive programs, making the case for embodied carbon reduction to clients focused on lowest-cost outcomes is a persistent challenge. The data is available; the argument is clear; but the economics do not always align. Our role is to build that case early and specifically, project by project, until the broader environment catches up. Contractor and subcontractor engagement is a similar friction point, particularly outside major metropolitan areas where limited experience with lower-carbon materials can translate into inflated estimates and reluctance. The more we bring those conversations upstream, the more manageable the transition becomes.
Building Carbon Literacy Across the Team
Expanding carbon literacy across the full project team remains one of the most important levers we have. When structural engineers, architects, and project managers share a working understanding of embodied carbon, the conversations with clients become more productive and the design decisions more informed. That internal education work, through monthly structural discipline meetings, firm-wide knowledge sharing sessions, and the carbon dashboards we have built to make performance visible across our offices, is as important as any individual project outcome.
Where We Go From Here
SMRT’s 2026 ECAP reflects where we are: real progress, real tools, and real work still ahead. We will revisit and revise this plan each year, incorporating new data, new project experience, and new lessons as our practice continues to develop. While this year’s submission doubles our dataset, it remains too small to reveal meaningful trends or opportunities. Still, we recognize the hard work our teams have invested in collecting and managing this data, and see this year as another step toward a more informed, consistent approach to measuring and reducing embodied carbon.
Bradley Baker, AIA, CPHD, NCARB Principal, leads SMRT’s Sustainability Practice, focusing on early energy modeling, building decarbonization, and integrated design across all project phases. He maintains SMRT’s AIA 2030 Commitment and is a Certified Passive House Designer accredited by the Passive House Institute.
