Episode
Sustainability Street: Building With Less Carbon, Not More Cost
- Podcast
- CPE Podcasts
- Published
- Apr 17, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2704
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
Welcome back to Sustainability Street. CPE's podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. Not so long ago, addressing embodied carbon in construction project was thought to be cost prohibitive. Increasingly, that is not the case. My guests for this episode, are Rebecca Esau, a manager with the Rocky Mountain Institute's Carbon-Free Buildings Program, and Tolga Tutar, senior sustainability director with Skanska. We discuss a report they've co-authored that demonstrates how developers are lowering embodied carbon cost effectively through early planning, available tools and more efficient materials. And we talk about how new developments in technology, circularity and carbon-storing bio-based materials will improve the business case for low-carbon buildings. Here are some highlights from our conversation: (1:54) Zeroing in on embodied carbon (5:23) Embodied carbon then and now (12:17) Proving the case for cost parity (20:26) Mass timber delivers savings (22:02) New life for old buildings (23:01) Elevating the bid leveling process (27:36) The importance of early planning (34:39) The next frontier in reducing embodied carbon (41:03) For more information… Follow, rate and review CPE’s podcasts on Spotify and Apple Podcasts , and don’t forget to subscribe to CPE’s YouTube channel!