Category: GS Sustainability
Our Journey to Net Zero
In the last few years, several ominous phrases have crept into our daily lexicon including “atmospheric rivers”, “quarantining”, “social distancing”, and “air-quality index.” Oxymorons are also taking over our headlines such as “stormy California” and “rainy Arizona.” Spurred by the pandemic and climate crisis, the world is changing faster than ever before – and our ...
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The Low-Carbon Sweet Spot: How This Hotel Leads the Way
May 7, 2026 General GS Sustainability OnTrack Series
What actually drives lower embodied carbon in high-rise buildings? In February’s post, we reviewed a dataset of 26 projects issued for construction in 2025 and one particular project stood out. Not because it used new materials or unconventional systems, but because of how deliberately it was refined. Across the dataset, three strategies consistently led to …
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ECAP Recap: Our Commitment to SE2050
April 1, 2026 General GS Sustainability OnTrack Series
Just like tax season, our sustainability commitments involve annual reporting each spring. This provides an opportunity to reflect on both progress and constraints of the previous year, and to take stock of all that was achieved. Glotman Simpson is proud to be a signatory of the Structural Engineering Institute’s SE2050 movement and the Climate Smart Buildings …
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From Basements to Benchmarks: What Drives Embodied Carbon
February 27, 2026 GS Sustainability OnTrack Series
We analyzed twenty-six projects – ranging from 9,000 m2 to 115,000 m2 – to calculate our firms Embodied Carbon intensity (ECI) in 2025. These projects varied in building typologies and the chart below summarizes the key ECI measurement compared to primary building use (data point colour), the building height (x-axis), and the size of the …
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2026: Building On Solid Foundations
January 30, 2026 GS Sustainability OnTrack Series
2025 was a real turning point at Glotman Simpson. Over the past year, we built a solid foundation for our sustainability work, particularly around how we measure and understand the embodied carbon of our projects. With 2026 underway we are ready to add another level of progress — expanding our efforts in measuring, reporting, and …
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Sustainability at GS: 2025 In Review
December 16, 2025 General GS Sustainability OnTrack Series
In January, we set out a clear objective for the year: to establish a robust foundation for how we track, report, and ultimately reduce the embodied carbon intensity of our building structures. Embodied carbon – greenhouse gas emissions associate with material production, transportation, construction, and end-of-life – remains a critical lever in lowering the overall …
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Lowering Cost + Carbon: The Power of Performance-Based Design
December 2, 2025 General GS Sustainability OnTrack Series
Innovation in structural engineering rarely comes from a single breakthrough – more so it is about building on ideas and connecting them in new ways. In our previous post, we explored how modern damping devices allow us to design more efficient structures, but what if there were an even smarter way to tame wind and …
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