![Matthew Gifford Matthew Gifford](https://aiau.aia.org/pluginfile.php/1/local_instructors/image/800/800.jpg)
Since joining Shepley Bulfinch in 2004, Matt has led complex projects for the country’s leading academic institutions, including Amherst College, Johns Hopkins University, and Xavier University. His recent work with Smith College and Loyola University Maryland further showcases Matt’s values-based approach to sustainability to create healthier buildings for both people and the planet, while providing clients with creative solutions to sustainability through an integrated design process. His expertise in green building has been recognized by colleagues and clients alike, with recent presentations on healthy building materials at Greenbuild and the Society of College and University Planning (SCUP) conferences.
Matt holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Tech and a Master of Urban Design from The City University of New York. He is a member of the Boston Society for Architecture.
Courses
Embodied Carbon 101: Making the Case
Addressing embodied carbon in one’s practice requires strategy, communication, and collaboration. This course addresses how AEC practitioners can speak with clients and collaborators about embodied carbon to demonstrate the value of reducing embodied carbon and to provide pathways to reduce its impacts in projects and the environment. Learners will hear from sustainability professionals whose practices represent traditional architectural firms, large engineering and consulting firms, and small design/build practices who share approaches to reducing embodied carbon in cooperation with clients, including: managing client choices by selecting and presenting low embodied carbon materials and designs; marketing and external communications; making the economic case for use of low embodied carbon materials and designs; drawing parallels between embodied carbon and materials and occupant health; and developing mutual goals and values with clients and project teams from the early stages of a project.
Course expires 11/14/2026