CAGBC hosts Third National Embodied Carbon Summit

CAGBC was pleased to host its Third National Embodied Carbon Summit on June 17, 2026, for the first time in Montréal, in conjunction with Building Lasting Change. With over a third of attendees from Québec, it offered a wonderful opportunity to connect experts from across the country to tackle conversations around this important topic.

The first Summit addressed the gaps and barriers in the industry, culminating in the cornerstone report Reducing Embodied Carbon in Canada’s Buildings. At the next Summit, attendees focused on setting priority actions, summarized in the short recap earlier this year.

This year, 88 participants tackled a topic that has impacted the green building industry over the past months: tackling the headwinds. As we all move from analyzing carbon to implementing reductions, the tougher questions are emerging : How do we keep advancing embodied carbon reduction amid many other priorities and pressures, including housing affordability, more limited funding, and changing market and policy signals?

Participants were enthusiastic with a willingness to share information and ideas. A member of the Summit planning committee, Zahra Teshnizi, with the City of Vancouver, summarized some key points from the day: “One takeaway I’m carrying forward is that the “why” cannot be universal. The value proposition needs to speak differently to developers, owners, designers, manufacturers, governments, and communities.”

Zahra highlighted that this work needs strong technical foundations: consistent methods, better data, practical tools, and clear reporting. She went on to note that the work will also require trust, shared ownership, clearer communication, and an evolving roadmap created by the industry, helping each sector understand what to focus on next and where it can lead. Zahra emphasized: “This roadmap does not need to be perfect or fixed. It needs to be useful, responsive, and grounded in today’s market realities while still pointing us toward the bigger vision.”

The CAGBC is encouraged by the level of engagement from Zahra and her fellow participants who carried these important conversations around embodied carbon through to Building Lasting Change and beyond.

The Summit also offered an opportunity for participants to make new connections, get recharged to focus on their tasks, and receive industry updates. While the list is  extensive, some of the most recent ones include:

• Clean Energy Canada’s latest embodied carbon report, building on their success of their 2025 version with new information: Closing the infrastructure gap with low cost and carbon.
• BDP.Quadrangle’s report released the same day as the Summit: How Design Drives Carbon II: analysing upfront carbon on 100 projects.
• Université de Sherbrooke’s Net Zero Chair released Navigating Net Zero in the Built Environment: Diverging Perspectives, Drivers, and Barriers (French) with webinars in both English and French available.

The CAGBC thanks the generous support of our event sponsors, without whom this event would not be possible: the Cement Association of Canada,CertainTeed, and Provencher Roy, as well as in-kind sponsorship from the Zero Emission Innovation Centre (ZEIC), for their event facilitator, Natalie Douglas. The CAGBC also thanks the Summit Planning committee for their efforts in helping to organize the event:

• Anthony Pak, Priopta
• Forest Borch, City of Vancouver
• Guillaume Martel, Provencher_Roy
• Heather Knudsen, National Resource Council Canada
• Kelly Alvarez Doran, Ha/f Climate Design
• Laura Husak, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada
• Natalie Douglas, Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC)
• Paul Steenhof, Canada Standards Association
• Rob Cooney, Cement Association of Canada
• Ryan Zizzo, Mantle Developments
• Ryley Picken, Treasury Board Secretariat
• Stephanie Dalo, Carbon Leadership Forum BC
• Zahra Teshnizi, City of Vancouver

Recap of CAGBC’s National Embodied Carbon Summit 2025

read report