Creative Brief

At Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH), we believe that protecting the planet is our responsibility. Environmental stewardship is a pillar of our Corporate Responsibility Program, reflecting our dedication to adopting sustainable practices and championing green advocacy programs like the Structural Engineering Institute’s SE 2050 Commitment.

As a signatory SE 2050 member, we are leading the charge to help reduce embodied carbon (EC) in the AEC industry to net zero by 2050. EC is the total CO₂ emissions associated with building construction, from raw material extraction and transportation to building maintenance and end-of-life. These emissions account for more than 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and our work—from designing structural and building enclosure systems to specifying building materials—can make a meaningful impact.

To educate clients and peers about EC and advocate for meaningful change, SGH’s Sustainability Committee (SC) and Marketing team partnered to produce the “Cutting Carbon” thought leadership series, featuring multidisciplinary engineering experts discussing tools, methodologies, and best practices. The campaign included:

• Webinar series: We held four live webinars covering sustainability concerns, building enclosure design, structural material considerations, and fireproofing approaches.
• Outreach: We engaged the industry press, invited our national email contacts, and spread the word on social media to promote the complimentary webinars and the importance of EC discussions.
• Educational resources: We repurposed planning materials and webinar recordings to create supplemental EC content.

The response from SGH employees and clients exceeded our expectations, especially our webinar attendance metrics and feedback from industry partners.