Meike Siegner

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Meike Siegner is a Market Certification Lead at Taking Root, where she leads certification reporting activities for Taking Root’s forest carbon removal projects. Previously, Meike was Mitacs Canadian Science Policy Fellow for the Government of British Columbia. She is passionate about the work of organizations that leverage nature-based solutions to empower communities and address climate change.

Meike Siegner

Jul 25 2022

If companies want net-zero carbon offices, they need to focus on building materials

Illuminem Voices

Environmental Sustainability · Carbon

In 2020, the extraction, transport and manufacturing of materials for the building sector accounted for 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. If buildings are to make meaningful contributions to keeping global temperature rise to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels, limiting emissions from building materials is crucial. To achieve this objective, engineered versions of age-old building technologies, like wood, straw or bamboo, are critical. These bio-based building materials generally demand less energy in manufacturing and have the ability to capture and store carbon through photosynthesis. This is why experts in green building policy, climate science and architecture increasingly tout the benefits of transforming buildings from a giant source of carbon into a large carbon sink.