Andrea Zani on Embodied Carbon, Lifecycle Assessments, and Designing Low-Carbon Facades

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Facade Focus

Tom Caldicott

13 episodes

4 days ago

I'm connecting the Global Facade Industry by interviewing leaders in each continent to discuss industry problems, explore solutions and help create a positive outcome for the global industry.

Business

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I'm connecting the Global Facade Industry by interviewing leaders in each continent to discuss industry problems, explore solutions and help create a positive outcome for the global industry.

Business

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Andrea Zani on Embodied Carbon, Lifecycle Assessments, and Designing Low-Carbon Facades | Episode #6

Facade Focus

59 minutes 10 seconds

6 months ago

Andrea Zani on Embodied Carbon, Lifecycle Assessments, and Designing Low-Carbon Facades | Episode #6

Sponsors:

Architectural Glass & Aluminum (AGA)

Website: https://aga-ca.com

LinkedIn: / agaengineered

Guest:

Andrea Zani of Bologna Business School:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-zani-84511674/

Host:

Tom Caldicott CEO of Unity Search

Website: www.unitysearchltd.com

LinkedIn: / tom-unitysearch

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Sustainability in Facades

02:59 The Transition from Consulting to Contracting

06:02 Decarbonization and Client Demands

08:58 The Value of Sustainability for Contractors

11:48 Regulatory Landscape and Compliance

15:07 Understanding Carbon Types: Embodied vs Operational

18:00 Life Cycle Assessment and EPDs

21:03 Optimizing Material Selection and Supply Chain

23:56 Driving Change Through Transparency

26:48 The Future of the Facade Industry

30:07 Circular Economy and Waste Reduction

33:17 The Role of Circularity in Decarbonization

36:10 Misconceptions About Embodied Carbon

38:14 Tracking Carbon Impact

40:33 Life Cycle Assessment as a Tool

42:06 Identifying Sustainability Champions

44:00 Impact on Different Project Sizes

45:31 Innovations in Facade Sustainability

46:39 Quickfire Questions: Personal Insights

Hey guys, and welcome to another episode of the Facade Focus podcast, where I aim to connect the global facade industry by sharing knowledge and experience for others to learn from.

Over the coming weeks, I'll be interviewing leaders and industry experts across the globe to discuss common problems people are facing and explore the innovative solutions that will help you in your learning journey.

This week, I’m joined by Andrea Zani, R&D Innovation Manager and Sustainability Lead at Permasteelisa North America.

Now, Andrea has a unique lens on the facade industry.

With a background in building engineering and a PhD from Milan, he’s worked with top consultancies like Arup, before moving into the contractor side at Permasteelisa.

And today, he’s leading their efforts to decarbonize facade systems developing high-performance, low-carbon designs that can actually be built and scaled.

In this episode, we explore:

What embodied carbon really means (without the jargon)

Why lifecycle assessments are becoming essential tools not just for compliance, but for better business

And how circular economy practices are starting to shape facade design across global markets

Andrea also shares how he's helping project teams make smarter material and supply chain choices—without sacrificing cost or performance.

So, if you're trying to figure out what sustainability really means for your business or how to get ahead of upcoming regulations this episode is packed with practical insights.