Practice

CBAC: Progress Updates (2024-2025)

Carbon Drawdown Subcommittee

• Developed three webinars for Climate & Biodiversity Action 101 series. 
• Developed new Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) hub with Corporate Member Committee.
• Engaged corporate members on EPDs through webinar with Corporate Member Committee. 
• Completed planning for updates to Decarbonizing Specifications: A Guide for Landscape Architects, Specifiers, and Industry Partners.  
• Initiated planning for Horticultural Life Cycle Assessment / Environmental Product Declaration (LCA/EPD) reporting standards for the nursery trade and an associated product category rule.
• Developed guide to using BIM to evaluate the climate impacts of projects. 
• Submitted formal comments to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency opposing the roll-back of the greenhouse gas emissions endangerment finding. 
• Submitted formal comments to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works opposing the repeal and rescission of federal embodied carbon programs. 
• Investigated biodiversity and carbon reporting requirements for ASLA Awards submissions and developed recommendations for ASLA Honors & Awards Committee.

Biodiversity Subcommittee 

• Published Biodiversity Primer for Landscape Architects: Essential Knowledge to Inform Meaningful Action. 
• Developed three webinars for Climate & Biodiversity Action 101 series. 
• Published Overcoming Barriers to Designing for Biodiversity, based on an analysis of member survey results. 
• Submitted formal comments to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opposing weakening protections under the Endangered Species Act. 
• Initiated development of regional biodiversity resource hub. 

Leadership & Communications Subcommittee 

• Achieved 28 ASLA Chapter Climate Action chairs and committees, an increase of 9 chapters in comparison with 2024. 
• Achieved 100 percent Chapter representation in the ASLA Climate & Biodiversity Action Network (CBAN). 
• Developed new introduction to ASLA Climate & Biodiversity Action organizational structures.
• Overhauled ASLA Climate & Biodiversity Action Network (CBAN) introduction and Chapter resources.  
• Expanded CBAN to include the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) provincial structures.
• Expanded collaboration with CSLA, including development of the webinar Local Leadership on Climate and Biodiversity: Lessons from Nunavut, Vancouver, and Toronto.
• Advised on ASLA climate and biodiversity communications and content strategies.

Climate Agency & Community Resilience Subcommittee

• Published Climate Justice 101 resource.
• Published blog post on barriers and opportunities in climate justice and equity work.
• Advanced planning with Indigenous landscape architects on climate action, equity, and justice.  

Progress updates for the 2023-2024 Committee  
Progress updates for the 2022-2023 Committee