Convert emissions or energy data to the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The calculator helps you translate abstract measurements into concrete terms you can understand, such as the annual emissions from cars, households, or power plants. This calculator may be useful in communicating your greenhouse gas reduction strategy, reduction targets, or other initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

SOURCE: US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

ULI’s Decarbonization Program is focused on climate mitigation and makes the business case for green buildings by tying carbon reductions to increased asset value.

SOURCE: Urban Land Institute

The Carbon Conscience tool is based on a broad research inquiry into embodied carbon in constructed landscapes. The app assists designers with evaluating proposed urban design and planning projects in respect to carbon-related impacts. The key metrics per land use (landscape, architectural, and ecological) considered are carbon emissions, storage, and sequestration. 

SOURCE: Sasaki

This  web-based application allows registered users to estimate the carbon footprint and time to carbon neutral for landscape projects based on site design and management. Projects receive carbon feedback in the form of a Climate Positive Scorecard.  It may be used for projects in the design phase or already completed projects. 

SOURCE: Climate Positive Design

WARM is a tool that provides high-level comparative estimates of the potential GHG emissions, energy savings, and economic impacts of materials managed in baseline and alternative materials management practices, including source reduction, recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion, combustion, and landfilling. The model estimates emissions, energy units and economic factors across a wide range of material types commonly found in municipal solid waste and construction and demolition debris in the following categories: Metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E), Energy units (million British Thermal Unit - BTU), Labor hours, Wages ($), and Taxes ($). WARM is currently available as a downloadable Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

SOURCE: Climate Positive Design

This Microsoft Excel-based calculator estimates the cost and environmental benefits of four scenarios for handling hardscape and landscape wastes (concrete and asphalt, brick, lumber, and yard waste): (1) Reusing all waste possible on-site, recycling all waste possible that cannot be reused, and disposing of waste remaining; (2) Reusing all waste possible and disposing of waste remaining (3) Recycling all waste possible and disposing of waste remaining; (4) Disposing of all waste materials. The calculator returns the one, three, six, and ten year costs associated with each of the four disposition methods. Users have the option to input their own cost information. The calculator also estimates the environmental impacts avoided by reusing and recycling landscape materials instead of landfilling them as waste. 

SOURCE: US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

EPA created the Recycled Content (ReCon) Tool to help companies and individuals estimate embodied carbon, the climate footprint across the full lifecycle of purchasing and/or manufacturing materials with varying degrees of post-consumer recycled content.

SOURCE: US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

A list of fabricators and quarries certified under the Natural Stone Sustainability Standard, which is the ultimate validation of responsible and sustainable production practices in the natural stone industry.

SOURCE: Natural Stone Institute

A 2009 book providing information on construction materials for sustainable sites. Part one introduces tools, techniques, ideologies and resources for evaluating, sourcing and specifying sustainable site materials. Part two devotes a chapter each to 16 types of materials - both conventional and emerging green materials.

SOURCE: Meg Calkins

A forthcoming book due to be published by Routledge in 2025.  The book’s working title is Details and Materials for Resilient Sites: A Carbon Positive Approach.

SOURCE: Meg Calkins

A good primer on carbon in the built environment.  Offers professionals an approach that embraces building science principles, life-cycle analysis, and design strategies in carbon neutral construction. The book also contains background information on carbon in construction materials and in the building design process. This book is filled with illustrative diagrams and drawings that help evaluate the potential impact of design decisions for creating carbon emissions. Written by and for designers and builders.

SOURCE: Matti Kuittinen, Alan Organschi, Andrew Ruff

A comprehensive catalog of research-proven strategies for decarbonizing how we design and operate lawns.

SOURCE: Doug Brede

A comprehensive resource for designers, contractors, and manufacturers with tips on reducing the environmental impacts of landscape construction within the context of climate change.

SOURCE: Kim Sorvig, J. William Thompson

Sets out steps for the design and planning of projects along with business operations to achieve equitable adaptation and mitigation goals. Outlines strategies to advance equitable policies, oversight, and collaboration.

SOURCE: The ASLA Climate Action Plan Task Force and Advisory Group, ASLA Climate Action Committee

This resource intends to empower building designers by: introducing embodied carbon and discussing its significance in furthering architects’ influence in decarbonizing the building industry; providing an understanding of measuring embodied carbon through the methodology of a life cycle assessment; equipping them with strategies to reduce embodied carbon in their own projects; and incorporating additional resources for implemented strategies and tools that this resource examines.

SOURCE: The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and The Carbon Leadership Forum

A comprehensive resource for design and construction professionals to implement ethical, forced-labor free materials sourcing strategies into their practices. The toolkit is a good primer on what building materials are composed of and their places of origin and manufacture.

SOURCE: Grace Farms

EPA initiated a series of innovative pilot projects to test ideas and strategies for improved environmental and public health results. This series of fact sheets highlights the innovative approaches, results, and environmental and economic benefits from pilot projects that may be replicated across various sectors, industries, communities and regions.

SOURCE: US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The CPG Product Supplier Directory includes manufacturers, vendors, and suppliers for each product so you can use it to search for specific companies and product. Products with reused and recycled content generally reduce embodied carbon, the climate footprint across the full lifecycle of the product.

SOURCE: US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

This guide promotes alternative futures for waste stream-bound material. The guide advocates for deconstruction over demolition and includes a detailed case study along with a downloadable framework that can be adapted for other communities.

SOURCE: US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

A site furnishings manufacturer in Norway with a mission to track and drive down carbon emissions across all areas of production and logistics.

SOURCE: Vestre

A material technologies manufacturer specializing in applications for sustainably harvested and reclaimed wood aimed at replacing more carbon-intensive materials including steel, concrete, insulation, and glass.

SOURCE: InventWood

The Carbon Conscience tool is based on a broad research inquiry into embodied carbon in constructed landscapes. The app assists designers with evaluating proposed urban design and planning projects in respect to carbon-related impacts. The key metrics per land use (landscape, architectural, and ecological) considered are carbon emissions, storage, and sequestration. 

SOURCE: Sasaki

This  web-based application allows registered users to estimate the carbon footprint and time to carbon neutral for landscape projects based on site design and management. Projects receive carbon feedback in the form of a Climate Positive Scorecard.  It may be used for projects in the design phase or already completed projects. 

SOURCE: Climate Positive Design

The Green Roof Energy Calculator is an online tool that allows users to compare the annual energy performance of a building with a vegetative green roof to the same building with either a dark roof or a white roof

SOURCE: Green Roofs for Healthy Cities

The B3 Guidelines can be applied to the design of new buildings or renovations to meet sustainability goals for site, water, energy, indoor environment, materials and waste. This albedo calculator can be used to estimate solar reflectance.

SOURCE: Buildings Benchmarks and Beyond

A comprehensive catalog of research-proven strategies for decarbonizing how we design and operate lawns.

SOURCE: Doug Brede

A comprehensive resource for designers, contractors, and manufacturers with tips on reducing the environmental impacts of landscape construction within the context of climate change.

SOURCE: Kim Sorvig, J. William Thompson

Green roofs have been proven to help reduce heat islands. This page provides a brief overview of the role of green roofs in mitigating the heat island effect, including green roof types, other environmental and social benefits, and cost-benefit considerations.

SOURCE: United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Design, remix, and share your street. Add bike paths, widen sidewalks or traffic lanes, learn how all of this can impact your community.

SOURCE: StreetMix

Since the advent of the car, almost without noticing it, we have deformed--and in some cases quite literally dismantled--not only the buildings in which we live, but our very cities themselves in a futile, downright Sisyphean attempt to always have a ready and easy place to store our cars. As a result, some of the nation's most precious and prime real estate has been devoted exclusively to storing empty and idle cars. The author examines how parking minimum elimination or reduction has improved the quality of life in Chicago, L.A., and other cities. Also profiles early efforts by professor Donald Shoup via his acolytes and book, The High Cost of Free Parking.

SOURCE: Henry Grabar

Complete Streets is an approach to planning, designing, building, operating, and maintaining streets that enables safe access for all people who need to use them, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities.

SOURCE: Smart Growth America

Estimates the energy production of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) energy systems throughout the world. It allows homeowners, small building owners, installers and manufacturers to easily develop estimates of the performance of potential PV installations.

SOURCE: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

A technology brief on tidal energy technologies that convert energy from ocean tides and currents. The Tidal Energy Technology Database allows users to explore dozens of different devices in the interactive data visualization tool.

SOURCE: The Liquid Grid

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED is a framework for identifying, implementing, and measuring green building and neighborhood design, construction, operations, and maintenance. This reference guide is designed to elaborate upon and work in conjunction with the rating system. Provides guidance on calculating previously developed land and infill sites.

SOURCE: U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)