As public agencies and infrastructure owners work to reduce emissions while delivering practical and effective projects, Lauren Alger, PE, ENV SP, vice president, director of sustainable design at STV, is helping shape the conversations that influence how the built environment is planned, procured and delivered.
Alger recently served as co-founder and a leading author of the New York Embodied Carbon Working Group, a coalition of architects, engineers, contractors, manufacturers, owners, academics and sustainability experts that developed the New York Embodied Carbon Action Plan. The plan provides a roadmap and recommendations for reducing emissions associated with the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance and disposal of materials used in buildings, roads and other infrastructure.
In addition to helping establish the group, Alger played a key role in bringing together diverse stakeholder perspectives and translating those insights into recommendations designed to support implementation.
“Advancing sustainability is complex,” Alger said. “We’ve brought together diverse perspectives to bridge the gap between bold goals and real-world project delivery.”
The working group convened industry professionals from across these varied sectors to build consensus around practical recommendations. Through structured engagement and collaboration, the group translated those perspectives into a focused set of recommendations capable of informing future policy and investment decisions.
“A project relies on so many different partners from start to finish, and choices made at one stage inevitably impact the next,” Alger said. “Our roadmap needed to be shaped by the actual experiences of individuals managing those realities, from industry professionals to those who understand the complexities of government.”
Rather than advancing a single solution, the working group developed a range of practical strategies designed to address challenges across the project and materials ecosystem. The resulting action plan offers comprehensive policy and reuse considerations – ranging from updating building and zoning codes and supporting local manufacturing, to advancing material reuse, asset preservation, and low-carbon standards. The action plan recognizes how policy, procurement, design, construction and supply chains must work together to drive meaningful progress.
The action plan also reflects an integrated “Best Value” decision-making approach that STV brings to communities: balancing cost, performance, carbon reduction, market readiness and community-wide benefits. This balanced approach helps organizations identify where action can create the greatest impact while remaining realistic about implementation challenges.
For owners and agencies evaluating capital investments, this framework can help inform decisions that advance sustainability goals while maintaining focus on project performance, delivery objectives and long-term community value.
With the action plan published, the working group has begun discussions on potential next steps, presenting an opportunity to translate industry expertise into solutions that help organizations navigate implementation, ranging from large-scale community procurement, to building programs that achieve both high performance and effective emissions reductions.
For STV, the effort demonstrates how bringing together technical expertise, industry perspectives and implementation experience can help organizations make more informed decisions about reducing embodied carbon while delivering projects that meet community needs.
