Embodied Carbon 101: MEP
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Description
Though mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems feature heavily in conversations about operational energy, they are an often-overlooked element in the embodied carbon conversation. Learn how MEP contributes to a project’s overall embodied carbon, including the impacts of systems of different scales and complexity, as well as the effects of MEP replacement cycles.
Course expires 11/14/2026
Learning Objectives
Identify which mechanical, engineering, and plumbing (MEP) systems components contribute to embodied carbon and how.
Assess the embodied carbon impacts of MEP systems relative to the embodied carbon impacts of other building systems and components in a building.
Analyze the embodied carbon impacts of MEP systems across varying build scales, complexities, and types.
Integrate replacement cycles and associated embodied carbon for MEP systems as part of the life cycle assessment for a building.
Alejandra is a Vice President in the Sustainability practice at Thornton Tomasetti, where she leverages her background in mechanical engineering and building science to provide project teams with advanced sustainable design knowledge as well as energy modeling and occupant comfort expertise. She leads the firm’s research efforts, which are aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of the impact unique technologies and design strategies have on a building’s performance. Alejandra is a voting member of ASHRAE Standard Project Committee 62, a member of the USGBC Environmental Quality Technical Advisory Group, and a Technical Committee member of the IBPSA Boston Chapter. She holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT with focus on Building Technologies, and has lectured at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Stephanie’s work investigates the interaction between the natural and constructed environment, including embodied carbon, life cycle assessment (LCA), urban ecology, landscape performance and supply chains and toxicity of building materials. Combining a background in environmental science and architectural design, she builds bridges between research and practice, bringing data-driven analysis and topical research to complex design problems. This experience will be applied towards improving the EC3 tool as well as other carbon data initiatives at the Carbon Leadership Forum.
She most recently was a Principal at KieranTimberlake Architects where she was an environmental researcher in the firm’s interdisciplinary research group. She is also a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design and a Co-Editor-In-Chief of Scenario Journal.
Julie Janiski leads integrated high performance building design teams at BuroHappold Engineering. Her key interest is to align the process and results of technical analysis to solutions that enhance design, building performance and ultimately the health, wellness and experience of the building by occupants and visitors.
Julie’s recent work includes multiple commercial projects in the Boston Seaport with WS Development, a high-performance corporate headquarters campus in Baltimore for Under Armour, a number of new office buildings for U.S. Embassy projects internationally for the U.S. State Department, an integrated “roadmap” plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% by the year 2050 (80×50) for the City of New York, and The House at Cornell Tech – a residential high-rise in New York City which is certified Passive House and LEED Platinum.
Julie received a Master of Architecture from the University of Michigan and a Master of Design Science in Sustainable Design from the University of Sydney, and is an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University as well as a visiting critic at a number of other universities.
Jacob Knowles is the Director of Sustainable Design at BR+A, leading the firm’s sustainability consulting team. He is the champion for over 2 million square feet of Net Zero projects, winning awards such as AIA COTE Top Ten, I2SL Go Beyond, and grants for high performance and zero net energy buildings. He is also a board member of the Boston Society for Architecture.
Kelsey Wotila joined EskewDumezRipple as the studio’s yearlong Research Fellow, exploring embodied and operational carbon across a portfolio sample of projects. Her research put real world cost to ZEROCODE and Architecture 2030 targets for a range of project types. She then transitioned into full-time staff, in order to apply this research and advance all projects towards a more sustainable future.
Kelsey graduated from the University of Colorado Denver with a Master of Architecture, and earned a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Colorado Boulder. After practicing architecture and design, she moved toward understanding impacts of the building industry and built environment. An emerging professional in carbon accounting, Kelsey has the skillset to convey complexity at an introductory level. Her work with EskewDumezRipple results in simple guidelines for architects to understand impacts of their design decisions.
She maintains that the role of architect should be as advocate, for the client and for the site, and on a macro scale, for the planet. The resulting architecture is the solution that fulfills the needs of the land, the user, and future users. As architects, she believes it is our role to blend numbers and beauty in creating sustainable spaces that people love.