Episode 020 | Ryan Zizzo: Embodied Carbon: How To Decarbonize The Construction Sector

In this podcast interview, I spoke with Ryan Zizzo, the Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Mantle, an interdisciplinary climate change consultancy based in Toronto, about the challenges and opportunities for reducing both operating and embodied carbon in new buildings as well his thoughts on climate change adaptation. Ryan is doing some really exciting work in the quantification of carbon and developing strategies to reduce both operating and embodied carbon.

I first met Ryan when we were both presenting at a CaGBC Conference some years ago. What impressed me most about Ryan’s presentation was his deep understanding about, not just how to design a sustainable, low-carbon building, but the implications of the life cycle of the building – and this was when life cycle approaches were not widely used. Ryan is also one of the most knowledgeable people about carbon accounting in Canada. He is currently the Chair of the Embodied Carbon Network’s 80+ member Policy Working Group, as well as a member of the Canada Green Building Council’s Zero Carbon Steering Committee.

Ryan Zizzo and the Mantle team developing a life-cycle and carbon strategy

As the Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Mantle, Ryan and Mantle’s team of lawyers, engineers and green finance experts assist public and private sector clients decrease their carbon footprint and devise strategies to transition to a low-carbon and climate-adjusted future.

Ryan has worked on dozens of green building and neighbourhood projects with leading Canadian and European architects, developers, and property management firms, and spent three years working in the leading Nordic green building scene in Helsinki, Finland.

Ryan holds a Masters degree in Applied Science in Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering from the University of Toronto, is a licensed Engineer in the Province of Ontario, and holds a LEED Accredited Professional designation in Neighbourhood Development.

Ryan speaking at Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference, Cement Association of Canada session on greening government procurement

Advice Ryan Gave Listeners

I’d say just discuss … If climate change is important to you, which I think it is if you’re listening to the podcast, and you’re still listening to us talk, just talk about it. Talk about it with those around you. It shouldn’t be a taboo discussion. As human beings, we’re really social creatures, and we want to know what our family and friends think and our neighbours think. And if the politicians understand that this is really an important issue for people, then they’re going to make changes. And the only way to really make that happen is really to talk about it, and look for every opportunity, as I said. I wouldn’t expect anyone to totally change their life in one day to be lower carbon, but every week, every month, we can make one lower carbon decision and build that into our life. And if we all did that, then in the long run, we would be able to get to where we need to go.

What Ryan Requested of Listeners:

So I think I’m just going to repeat myself, which is … to do one little thing and integrate that into your life, and then do one other little thing. Something like Meatless Mondays. I love food, I love meat, but I can have a Meatless Monday. I’m not going to become a vegan (unfortunately) overnight. Maybe in a few years, maybe I might. But we can do little things, and we shouldn’t be afraid to do a little thing like that.

And also, to talk about the challenges. Don’t only talk about the things that you’re doing great, because that’s the only way that we learn. For me, I’m really guilty of flying too much. It’s part of my life. I go to conferences, I go on vacation, I visit friends and family. I’m not proud of it, but it’s just kind of a reality. So, I’m really looking forward to those carbon neutral fuels, to electric planes. But if we don’t talk about those things, then we’re not going to materialise them, we’re not going to show the market that there’s a need for that.

So, let’s not only talk about our successes, but let’s also talk about the things that we’re struggling with as well. But I think if we all talk about these things, if we support each other, and we do one more thing every year or whatever the time scale we want to talk about is, that’s all we can really do, but it will have a big impact when we all do it together.