Ep. 15. 13 Minutes on Ethical Decarbonization

In this episode, host Amy Hattan talks with Bridget Kane and Lisa Bolle, leaders of Thornton Tomasetti’s ethical decarbonization working group. Together, they explore how the construction industry can reduce embodied carbon while also addressing labor ethics in material supply chains. They discuss how the manual, labor-intensive manufacturing of materials like solar panels is prone to labor violations, often hidden deep within supply chains. They also review challenges in tracking these risks and emphasize the need for tools like SourceMap to visualize supply chain ethics. Bridget and Lisa also point out that everyone in the AEC industry has a role in building a sustainable, ethical future through solutions such as using vetted materials lists and supporting initiatives like Design for Freedom to push industry-wide change.