Category: OnTrack Series

Glotman•Simpson’s 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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Sustainability in Action: 2025 Focus

As we hit the start of 2025 and while everyone is setting out their personal resolutions, we thought we would set out our goals for Glotman Simpson’s sustainability efforts too. This year feels particularly significant—we are now only five years away from 2030, the milestone many governments and Fortune 500 companies have tied to their …

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The SE 2050 Commitment and Our Journey Towards Net Zero

Our Commitment to SE 2050 The SE 2050 Commitment Program is an initiative aimed at reducing the embodied carbon in structural systems to net-zero by 2050. This aligns with global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C, as recommended by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Glotman•Simpson is not only a signatory of …

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California Leads the Way: Decoding the New Embodied Carbon Requirements in CALGreen

In the late summer of 2023, the California Building Standards Commission adopted new mandatory embodied carbon requirements through the California Green Building Standard Code, colloquially known as CALGreen. These measures will be required for all non-residential buildings greater than 100,000 SF and school buildings greater than 50,000 SF, making California the first State in the …

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On Track: Sustainable Building Design and Code Evolution

Pages Sustainable Building Design and its Intersection with the Building Code and Performance Based Design Seismic codes are ever evolving and generally ever increasing. Read More

On Track: Considering The Balance Between Material Costs + Labour Efficiency

  We recently stumbled upon a thought-provoking article, authored by Steve Webb, in The Architectural Review. Webb envisions an alternative future where taxes are employed to protect human labour and penalize excessive material use, thus curbing wasteful practices. Historically, the cost of labour has outweighed the price of materials, resulting in buildings designed to minimize …

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On Track: Building Decarbonization and Technology: BIM Integration

The embodied carbon policy landscape in North America is rapidly evolving, and at Glotman Simpson we are fully embracing the change. Slowly but surely, policies are aligning with the current environmental demands of the era. With these policy shifts, we must adapt to create a more sustainable, equitable and decarbonized built environment. The question then …

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