Chris is the co-founder of Builders for Climate Action, and has been leading development of the BEAM carbon estimator tool for low- rise construction.
BEAM started as a spreadsheet developed by Chris Magwood to assist with his Master’s thesis project at Trent University. Looking for a way to estimate the climate impact from building materials for low-rise, residential construction methods and materials, he realized that the best way to get consistent, defensible results was to build a tool that used Environmental Product Declarations and transparent material take-off calculations as well as a way of calculating biogenic carbon storage in materials. The impact from his thesis, Opportunities for CO2 Capture and Storage in Building Materials, led to the establishment of Builders for Climate Action and the continued development of the BEAM tool.
He is working closely with many levels of government to develop embodied carbon benchmarks and regulatory programs, and helping developers and builders figure out how to reverse climate change with their buildings.
