Holcim Foundation Impact Summit

The Summit was organized to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration and drive collective action at a faster pace by convening investors, insurers, owners, developers, firms engaged in architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) – as well as government agencies and non-profits, academics and philanthropic organizations. “The genesis of this event was to bring people together who don’t normally leave their silos so they could figure out how to collectively make things happen faster,” explains Kate Ascher, Board Member Holcim Foundation and Milstein Professor of Urban Development, at Columbia University.

During the Summit, participants collectively selected and agreed upon a set of actionable ideas, developed across three workshops, aimed at accelerating the adoption of low carbon materials and solutions for North America’s buildings in the short term. From standards alignment and policy to data and benchmarking, participants of the Summit are now encouraged to contribute to the suggested initiatives that can create a tangible impact in the next 1-2 years. One such initiative – to scope the alignment of embodied carbon calculation methodologies – has received funding from the Holcim Foundation and Columbia University and will be taken up by members of the existing embodied carbon alignment group in the US, composed of non-profit organizations Architecture 2030, Building Transparency, Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF), International Living Future Institute (ILFI) and US Green Building Council (USGBC).

Attendees praised the Holcim Foundation for bringing together actors from across the construction and real estate value chains for the first time to develop pathways to reducing embodied carbon in the US building sector. “The diversity of perspectives revealed challenges not previously understood yet easily overcome with existing solutions residing in an industry silo”, noted one participant.

“The most exciting thing to come out of the Impact Summit is the notion that embodied carbon can be translated onto the balance sheet of companies,” noted Ché Wall of Flux Consultants - highlighting the importance of enabling the true carbon footprint of buildings to be measured and managed. Meghan Lewis from The Carbon Leadership Forum, also sees the potential impact of “all this measurement and data to motivate change, and the Holcim Foundation supports that conversation so we can focus on these unique challenges.”

The Impact Summit created an opportunity for collaboration across the sector. “Through its network, the Holcim Foundation can put experts in the room and facilitate a coming together so that the magic of collaboration happens,” said Maria Atkinson, Chairperson of the Holcim Foundation.