lara stroup, pe, leed ap bd+c

PROJECT MANAGER

columbus office

With post-graduate degrees in both structural engineering + architecture, Lara has a unique perspective when it comes to marrying necessary structural elements + desired facility aesthetics.

Lara has 14 years of industry experience and has spent about half of her career at Schaefer. She works on diverse projects with differing size, geography + purpose. Lara is passionate about sustainability and making an impact on the world around her, and began leading Schaefer’s sustainability initiative in 2021. As initiative champion, she’s contributed thought leadership + provides resources to those designing according to sustainability goals and/or interested in expanding their knowledge in the area.  Lara is a member of the National Council of Structural Engineers Association’s (NCSEA) Sustainable Design Committee and founded the Structural Engineers Association of Ohio (SEAoO) Sustainable Design Committee.

aaron pajestka

PROJECT ENGINEER

columbus office

focus: research + development of sustainable steel strategies

 

peter householter

DESIGN ENGINEER

cincinnati office

focus: documentation + approaches to sustainable wood design

 

john thesing

PROJECT ENGINEER

cincinnati office

focus: embodied carbon calculations + reporting

 

education | how we’re leading the field.

internal inclusion

It’s important that everyone has the opportunity + access to be involved in our sustainability initiative. Our sustainability team stretches across our firm’s geography with team members present at two of our three offices. The sustainability team is available for advice on how to address sustainability concerns.

We regularly shine a light on our efforts by providing updates + educational opportunities at firm-wide staff meetings. In addition, we post articles + SMART sheets to our firm knowledge management tool, ranging in content + knowledge level from a glossary of sustainability terms to an article from a structural magazine to a short video on life cycle analysis.

SMART conference

2022-2024

Each year, Schaefer hosts a conference for all team members to engage in an educational, social + collaborative two-day experience. Since 2022, our sustainability initiative team has hosted an educational session during the conference with both internal + external speakers, and both presentation + hands-on approaches. Topics that we’ve covered include:

• Types of sustainability certifications
• Measurements of a building’s sustainability
• New technologies
• Ways we can implement sustainability into our everyday lives
• SMART conference continued
• Life cycle assessments
• Environmental product declarations (EPDs)
• Embodied carbon basics + how it relates to the A/E/C industry
• Whole building life-cycle assessments
• Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)
• Strategies for reducing embodied carbon on projects

2025 + BEYOND

As we welcome new engineers to our firm, SE 2050 + embodied carbon training will be included in our onboarding process. New team members will learn:

• Schaefer’s commitment to SE 2050
• What embodied carbon is + how it relates to the A/E/C industry
• What resources are available to them

education | how we advocate.

knowledge sharing initiative

We met with some of our clients that have expressed sustainability goals to discuss potential collaboration in the years to come. Our clients told us that they want:

• Earlier collaboration on sustainability goals
• Innovative solutions
• Assistance on embodied carbon calculations and life cycle assessments (a service we’re developing)

We share content on our firm blog to connect with our clients on our SE 2050 initiative and share what it could mean for them. We provide the tools to our team so they can start the discussion on embodied carbon goals with our clients on each project. It’s important to our team that our clients know they are our priority, and we will work with them on their goals.

We believe in knowledge sharing amongst other structural engineers as well. Our initiative champion, Lara, is a member of the National Council of Structural Engineers Association’s (NCSEA) Sustainable Design Committee and founded the Structural Engineers Association of Ohio (SEAoO) Sustainable Design Committee. Schaefer team members have presented on the topic of embodied carbon at multiple events including:

• Structural Engineers Association of Ohio | annual conference
  “Sustainability in the Built Environment: Why Should I Care?”
  Schaefer presenter | Lara Stroup, project manager
  Co-presenter | Ebiji Akah
  September 12, 2024
• Design Columbus
  “The Bigger Picture: Case Study of Cincinnati Public Radio Mass Timber Project”
  Schaefer presenter | Doug Steimle, operations leader | principal + Lara Stroup, project manager
  Co-presenter | emersion DESIGN
  March 11, 2024
• REBUILD
  “The Bigger Picture: Case Study of Cincinnati Public Radio Mass Timber Project”
  Schaefer presenter | Doug Steimle, operations leader | principal
  Co-presenter | emersion DESIGN
  October 12, 2023

strategy | let’s get to work.

one-year reduction strategy

We’re starting with high benefit/low energy solutions; we feel it’s important to make our solutions practical.

• Some existing technologies can be applied to a project simply by discussing with the client + changing the specifications. Ideas like this will build early confidence internally and start conversations with our clients.
• We’ll start to include alternative, sustainable choices in our general notes. We’ll provide guidance for the master specifications and how to specify low embodied carbon materials.
• We’ll perform an embodied carbon study on six projects, building on the five from 2024. By creating a library of past projects, we’ll have data to support our clients + provide recommendations on the best choices for their specific projects.

five-year reduction strategy

Over a five-year period, our sustainability team hopes to impact multiple aspects of our firm, from the work we do to our own offices.

• The work depends largely on our clients and aligning with their goals. We’ll develop + implement a workflow that helps our team communicate embodied carbon impacts of different design options to our clients.
• Our team will perform embodied carbon studies on at least five projects every year. Our goal will be to increase the number of projects per year to ten by 2030. Projects will be chosen from diverse markets, materials + locations to maximize our inclusion + create comprehensive data.
• We’ll complete embodied carbon calculations at three times: early design, end of design + during construction. This will help us track how changes made to the project impacted the overall embodied carbon.

reporting | how we’ll continuously improve.

life cycle assessment tools + reporting

Over the last two years, we have investigated multiple life cycle assessment tools – we decided TallyCAT and EC3 were best for our workflow in 2023 + 2024. At the end of 2024, we purchased a license for Tally to include additional stages in our life cycle assessments. Moving forward:

• We’ll complete life cycle analyses for stages A1-A4 , C2-C4 + D. Our plan is to use the industry average data preset in Tally.
• We’ll prioritize calling manufacturers for EPDs when unknown. When unavailable, we’ll utilize industry + regional data.
• We’ll complete an embodied carbon calculation at the end of the design phase and before the construction administration phase. To determine quantities, we’ll utilize Revit, a tool we use to model most projects. This will easily show quantities, but in some project types, it will require a higher level of detailing than we normally draft.

lessons learned

• Mass timber is a sustainable option from many regards, but performs poorly in a whole building LCA when it comes to emissions outside of embodied carbon due to its lack of end-of-life reuse (assumed in many life cycle assessment models). As engineers, we need to consider all aspects of the building + choose the material that is right for the project. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.
• TallyCAT and EC3 are great tools to calculate the embodied carbon on our projects and integrate well with Revit. However, the tools are limited to the A1-A3 stages which does not allow us to perform a WBLCA (which our clients are looking for).
• Tally has its limits as a life cycle assessment tool. While it integrates well with Revit making the calculations easy, there is limited ability to adjust the EPDs or material specific emissions.
• Making embodied carbon reductions takes effort from all design team members, from the architect to the contractor to the material suppliers.