CONFERENCE DAY TWO | WEDNESDAY JULY 17
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7:50 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Anchoring Sustainability into Your Corporate DNA
8:00 am Enhancing Senior Management Buy-In to Ensure Sustainability Remains a Core Pillar of Corporate Strategy Long into the Future
Synopsis
- Developing strategies to engage organizational leaders: What are the metrics they care about to reinforce your business case?
- Identifying stakeholders, strategies, and practices to integrate sustainability frameworks into corporate culture, considering stakeholder engagement, transparency, and cultural blending for effective implementation
- Encouraging active leadership involvement by demonstrating the tangible benefits and cost savings to ensure effective resource allocation and funding
8:40 am Client-Driven Sustainability: What are Our Primary Goals & Roadblocks in Our Own Sustainability Journey?
Synopsis
- Discussing our primary sustainability goals and targets moving into 2025 and how these impact decisions throughout the design and construction process
- Exploring the impact of impending regulations on supply chain evaluations, focusing on Scope 3 emissions and federal initiatives from an owner’s standpoint
- Understanding the readiness for risk-sharing strategies to test innovative sustainability practices or materials within projects
9:50 am Morning Refreshments
Track 1
Reducing Embodied Carbon in Design
Reducing Embodied Carbon in Design
Enhancing Material Selection
10:20 am Discover: Demystifying the EPD Preparation Process for Suppliers & Contractors
Synopsis
- Outlining the intricacies of EPDs, delving into the meticulous data gathering, measurements, and assessments integral to crafting comprehensive EPD assessments
- Detailing the data measurements and evaluation process involved in preparing an EPD
- Overcoming the challenge of disparities in EPD grades among competitors and sharing lessons learned to encourage further alignment
11:20 am Develop: Exploring Cutting-Edge Materials to Optimize Project Efficiency
Synopsis
- Evaluating the performance of innovative materials to understand their impact on project efficiency, considering factors like durability, cost-effectiveness, and environmental sustainability
- Understanding risks behind adopting new materials, including issues of scalability, regulatory compliance, or performance limitations
- Getting buy-in to incorporating newly discovered materials into project plans
11:50 am Action: Assessing the Role of EPDs in Procurement to Optimize Material Selection
Synopsis
- Evaluating the current variability in EPD quality and exploring alternative methods to bridge information gaps
- Encouraging widespread participation and understanding among vendors and suppliers to ensure comprehensive and accurate data provision for EPD reviews
- Discussing the benefits and drawbacks of incorporating EPDs into procurement and material selection process
Track 2
Tackling Jobsite Emissions & Sustainability
Tackling Jobsite Emissions & Sustainability
Reducing Fuel Emissions
10:20 am Discover: Harnessing Equipment Electrification to Help Us Achieve Site Carbon Neutrality
Synopsis
- Market assessment of zero-emission construction vehicles and charging equipment
- Evaluating the upfront investment required to transition to electrified equipment alternatives
- Detailing the process and considerations for launching fleet electrification pilots: What have been our lessons learned?
11:20 am Develop: Expanding Beyond Electrification to Reduce Fuel Emissions Despite Equipment Shortages
Synopsis
- Confronting the availability challenges in adopting electric alternatives on jobsites across the US
- Discussing various alternatives beyond electrification, such as biofuels and biogas, for heavy equipment
- Assessing the impact of regulations on equipment evolution and what’s coming down the line that we need to be ready for
11:50 am Action: Finding Ways to Reduce Equipment Idling Time to be Regulation Compliant, Ahead of Time
Synopsis
- Utilizing technological solutions like truck-mounted gateways to track idling duration
- Using established benchmarks to establish goals to reduce idling
- Assessing the responses of various companies to new infrastructure package rules and regulations, studying their approaches to implementing idling policies and measuring tangible cost savings and operational impacts
Track 3
Building Corporate Sustainability Frameworks
Building Corporate Sustainability Frameworks
Employing Technology to Enhance Workflow Integration
10:20 am Discover: Building a Technology Stack for End-toEnd Inventory Tracking
Synopsis
- Creating a decision matrix to understand which software is more efficient and compatible for your company
- Exploring effective approaches to transfer data between various digital solutions: What is the typical format required, and how can we update data collection practices to ease integration?
- Addressing the challenges of integration and methods to align operational technologies with new systems
11:20 am Develop: Benchmarking Software Options to Support Effective Carbon Inventorying
Synopsis
- Investigating options to compile comprehensive sustainability, social, and governance data
- Exploring the future-readiness of your software for updates and Ensuring the long-term relevance of the tools incorporated in carbon inventory and usefulness in case of future updates, innovation, and adaptation to changing regulations or methodologies
- Evaluating the implementation of telematics and other new data retrieval packages in the field, exploring their contributions to building a more robust data ecosystem for enhanced project efficiency and sustainability
11:50 am Action: Collaborating with External Partners to Gather Essential Data to Build More Robust Carbon Inventories
Synopsis
- Exploring potential cloud-based solutions for streamlined and automated data aggregation
- Initiating alliances with external partners to establish frameworks for secure and ethical data sharing
- Exploring the potential to partner with external specialists to access specialized data streams to enhance the depth and precision of carbon inventory assessments
12:10 pm Lunch Break
Track 1
Reducing Embodied Carbon in Design
Reducing Embodied Carbon in Design
Sustainability Throughout the Project Lifecycle
1:10 pm Discover: Harnessing Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) to Help Understand Your Carbon Emissions
Synopsis
- Mapping the key stages of conducting a robust life cycle analysis
- Exploring options for resource allocation: How to overcome cost and resource constraints and conduct an efficient LCA analysis?
- Integrating LCA findings into decision-making processes, informing strategies for reducing emissions and optimizing sustainability initiatives
1:40 pm Develop: Exploring How Alternative Project Delivery Models Can Be Used to Support More Sustainable Choices at Every Stage of the Project Lifecycle
Synopsis
- Exploring how Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and other collaborative models can support more sustainable choices early in design
- Discussing the ambitious sustainable project plans that have been enabled by collaborative partnering models: How can you introduce these conversations with your own project teams?
- Evaluating the impact throughout latter stages in the project lifecycle, and how teams have maintained momentum with more sustainable decisions
2:10 pm Action: Exploring Your Role in Enhancing Material Data Accuracy
Synopsis
- Encouraging transparent data-sharing practices among suppliers: What systems and information can we provide to help partners help us?
- Exploring methods of data collection standardization and categorization processes across departments, ensuring uniformity and accuracy.
- Implementing validation procedures to ensure the accuracy and reliability of supplier-provided data
Track 2
Tackling Jobsite Emissions & Sustainability
Tackling Jobsite Emissions & Sustainability
Waste & Water Reduction Best Practice
1:10 pm Discover: Building Out a Robust System for Jobsite Waste Accounting to Reduce Environmental Impact
Synopsis
- Emphasizing the importance of reliable waste data reporting for accurate carbon impact assessment
- Establishing a system for comprehensive waste accounting on job sites, considering regional differences in regulations
- Developing a system of measures to help tackle key pain points, and enhance overall site waste management
1:40 pm Develop: Implementing Easy Wins for Waste Reduction: How are We Implementing Better Recycling Models for Plastics & Trash on Job Sites?
Synopsis
- Establishing effective waste segregation on job sites to ensure proper sorting and diversion of recyclable materials
- Initiating awareness campaigns and programs to emphasize the importance of recycling and proper waste management, and improve engagement with more responsible disposal practices
- Formulating metrics and tracking methodologies to quantify the reduction of single-use plastic bottles onsite, and help drive continuous improvement
2:10 pm Action: Engaging Field Teams in Water Reduction Initiatives to Eliminate Waste on the Jobsite
Synopsis
- Designing a system to effectively track water consumption on job sites
- Investigating opportunities for utilizing less water onsite, including options such as recycled water: What successful pilots are companies currently implementing?
- Conducting training sessions and educational programs for field teams on efficient water management practices to reduce day to day usage
Track 3
Building Corporate Sustainability Frameworks
Building Corporate Sustainability Frameworks
Strategic Collaboration in Materials Management
1:10 pm Discover: Aligning Suppliers With Corporate Commitments To Align Materials Innovation With Industry Priorities
Synopsis
- Evaluating supplier processes, assessing their sustainability initiatives, and identifying areas for improvement
- Developing incentives and frameworks to encourage suppliers to actively align their innovation agendas with industry priorities and corporate commitments
- Developing joint innovation roadmaps with key suppliers, outlining mutual goals and milestones for materials innovation that align with broader industry
1:40 pm Develop: Building Strategic Partnerships With Materials Vendors to Drive More Cost-Efficient Solutions
Synopsis
- Confronting the limitations of alternative materials availability: How is this preventing large projects drive towards net-zero in particular?
- Establishing strategic partnerships with materials vendors to procure more sustainable alternatives in bulk, and help drive down unit cost
- Strengthening partnerships with suppliers to provide more timely feedback on materials design and evolution
- Discussing adaptations that can be made to optimize procurement strategies without compromising quality
2:10 pm Action: Implementing Circular Economy Practices in Construction Supply Chains to Enhance Resource Efficiency
Synopsis
- Discussing innovative methods for recycling construction waste and integrating recovered materials back into the supply chain, minimizing landfill contributions
- Investigating the role of digital technologies, data analytics, and BIM in optimizing circularity within construction projects, enabling better material tracking, reuse, and lifecycle management
- Discussing innovative financial models, incentives, and investment strategies that boost circular construction practices, considering ROI, long-term cost savings, and sustainable financing options
2:30 pm Afternoon Refreshments
The Future of Sustainable Construction
3:00 pm Charting the Path to Net Zero: Where is the Industry to Date & What is the Realistic Future Roadmap?
Synopsis
- Overviewing the progress, we have made to date and the feasibility of existing strategies to achieve net-zero carbon emissions
- Investigating progress in key factors steering the industry towards net-zero status, including regulations, innovations, and collaborative contractor efforts
- Delving into potential pathways and timelines to move closer towards net-zero targets in the next 12-18 months