Life cycle assessment training now available for architecture professionals

OTTAWA — The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is teaming up with the National Research Council of Canada for a one-year rapid-deployment project to train members of the architectural community through a hands-on case study-based whole building life cycle assessment (LCA) curriculum.

Whole building LCA provides an estimate of the total GHG emissions associated with a building, indicates a release. It includes emissions due to operations and those associated with the extraction, manufacturing, transport, installation, replacement and the end of service life for products and materials used in a building, which constitute a significant proportion of a building’s whole life carbon emissions. 

The RAIC will collaborate with Ha/f Climate Design to organize the in-person training workshops for practicing industry professionals. Following a theory-based lecture on LCA, embodied carbon and related methodologies, participants will engage in a hands-on workshop, learning the basics of how to perform an assessment in a small group, states the release.

The workshops will be held between September 2024 and May 2025 in various locations across Canada including Ottawa, Toronto, Saint Andrews, Winnipeg, Regina, Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax and Montreal. An online option will also be available.

Participants will learn definitions, methods, targets and standards as well as having the opportunity to practice with LCA software. 

“As architects, it is our responsibility to build and design with environmental leadership as an underpinning value and principle,” said Jason Robbins, past-president of the RAIC, in a statement. “Focused on our purpose to create a better world for all, this partnership with the National Research Council of Canada is one step in the right direction for the building sector to decarbonize at rapid scale and to accelerate the pace of climate action needed for Canada to achieve its 2030 and 2050 targets.”

Visit the website to learn more or register for the workshop.