Ethical Decarbonization of the Built Environment
Thornton Tomasetti
Portland, Maine
Position is hybrid
About the Sustainability Fellows Program:
UNH Sustainability Fellowships pair exceptional students from UNH and across the U.S. with municipal, educational, corporate, and non-profit partners to work on transformative sustainability initiatives each summer. Sustainability Fellows undertake challenging projects that are designed to create an immediate impact, offer a quality learning experience, and foster meaningful collaboration. Fellows work on-site (or online) with their mentors at partner organizations during the summer, supported by a network of Fellows, partners, alumni, and the UNH Team.
A detailed description of one Fellowship follows. To learn more about the other Fellowships offered this year, and for application instructions, click here.
Eligibility:
Students and recent graduates who will have earned an undergraduate degree from ANY accredited college or university by May 2025 (current seniors, recent graduates, and graduate/PhD students).
About the Host Organization:
Thornton Tomasetti optimizes the design and performance of structures, materials and
systems for projects of every size and level of complexity. We are an independent organization of engineers, scientists, architects and other professionals who collaborate from offices worldwide to help organizations achieve their goals. We are committed to being a sustainable, diverse and enduring organization and the global driver of change and innovation in our industry. At TT, our staff is united in purpose to mitigate the risks of climate change by applying expertise in decarbonization and resilience.
In 2022, our Portland, Maine office was voted Top 5 Best Places to Work in Maine. The 40-person office is home to members of the Structural practice, Transportation practice, and Sustainability/Resilience practice. It serves as the Center of Excellence for mass timber, whole life carbon, passive house and building science. The office has many active members of Women@TT, a professional alliance and employee network group that seeks to push the boundaries of corporate culture and personal potential. Additionally, there are two Green Champions who work with the Corporate Responsibility department to meet climate action initiatives for the office.
About the Fellowship – Project Description:
The most ethical building is one that does no harm during its assembly or operation. The A/E/C industry (Architecture, Engineering, Construction) is one of the most disaggregated industrial sectors. While it is responsible for 13% of global GDP, it has a 1% productivity growth rate over the last 20 years. Globalization has created complex webs of resource extraction, goods production and service provision across borders, and these global supply chains have historically been opaque, hard to track and somewhat unregulated. As a result, it is estimated that the construction sector is the #1 sector at risk for unknowingly supporting and reinforcing forced labor practices at the points of extraction and manufacturing.
Similarly, the planning and design process engaged by professional service providers, developers and financiers has not always taken an inclusive, broad, and justice-oriented approach to developing the built environment. The exclusion of all stakeholders impacted by a construction project, similar to other systems of oppression, takes place at the individual, institutional and structural levels. There are few, rare, examples of Equity-Centered Design processes currently or fluently employed during planning and design.
There are a growing number of organizations, institutions, and municipalities educating themselves on these topics and piloting initiatives to drive market change. Change in labor practices, reporting, transparency, material selection, design process, and construction practices. There are several successful case studies and pilot projects, but we are finding that public perception and fear of failure is prohibiting progress.
We believe more substantial progress can be made with increased awareness of the process for implementing ethical labor practices at the building scale, which will be the focus of this project.
This is an emerging topic for the Architecture Engineering & Construction (AEC) industry and this Fellow will be on the forefront of research in forced labor practices. The Sustainability and Resilience Practice of Thornton Tomasetti works with a wide range of colleges, universities, and other institutions (i.e. private schools, corporations, etc) in New England and beyond. This research would be used to inform workshops, goal-setting and educational materials shared with our partner institutions to inspire pilot initiatives related to ethical labor practices. It is possible that the findings could be presented at industry conferences, depending on the outcomes of the research, and shared with partner organizations like Design for Freedom. (Design For Freedom)
Outcomes
The 2025 Fellowship will advance the research completed as part of the 2024 Fellowship, which includes three primary objectives:
- Advance in-depth research on specific façade and structural materials. This includes outreach to glazing, aluminum and steel manufactures to understand their progress, lessons learned, and challenges within the supply chain.
- A NYC-based TT employee will be working on deep dives on structural materials and mass timber as part of a structural engineering collaborative working with DFF and can serve as a resource to the UNH Fellow as needed.
- Refine and synthesize information from the 2024 and 2025 Fellowship into presentation materials that can be used by TT Sustainability staff as part of AIA-approved course content for AEC firms in the Northeast. These presentations will summarize research and offer key insights and knowledge on this topic, enhancing the understanding of ethical decarbonization efforts happening at both regional and national levels.
- Engage with the Ethical Decarbonization Working Group at TT, which is a working group within the Embodied Carbon Community of Practice (COP). It is a group of cross-disciplinary professionals dedicated to research and industry engagement related to building materials/ products that have minimal embodied carbon and do not incur human rights abuses throughout their extraction, manufacture, sale, and end-of-life stages.
Desired Qualifications:
- Background in Architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, Sustainability, or Policy is preferred
- Experience with data collection and research
- Excellent communication, organization and collaboration skills
- Experience with Excel, Microsoft Office programs and Graphic Design programs (i.e. Adobe Creative Suite, etc)
- Knowledge and understanding of material procurement and supply chains is preferred, but not required.
- LEED Green Associate, LEED Accreditation or Living Future Accreditation is a plus.
Location:
14 York Street, Suite 201, Portland, ME 04101
Work will be performed hybrid.
Additionally, the office is located in downtown Portland, ME which is situated on the Casco Bay and 10–15-minute drive from the coastal beaches. It is a growing city and great location to spend the summer months.
Mentors:
Bridget Kane, Project Director, TT Sustainability/Resilience Practice, Portland, ME
Amanda Garvey, Vice President, TT Sustainability/Resilience Practice, Portland, ME
Compensation:
$8,000
(taxable and distributed on a two-week payroll cycle over the course of the fellowship)
Expectations:
Fellows are expected to be primarily dedicated to their assigned projects throughout the summer, and also participate in a variety of networking activities, professional development opportunities, and presentations coordinated by UNHSI. Specifically, Fellows are expected to:
Attend a mandatory virtual orientation prior to the start of the Fellowship term, May 27 & 28, 2025.
Work full-time for the partner organization, May 27 – August 15, 2025
Complete 400 hours of work, including project work with host organization as well as UNHSI activities, between May 27 – August 15, 2025.
Complete a Fellowship project according to the work plan.
Participate in weekly webinars and advisory group meetings.
Present work at in person launch event on June 17 and 18, 2025 and virtual final presentation on August 7.
Engage in additional professional development, networking, and advisory activities as offered.
Provide and receive feedback at the end of the Fellowship.
Apply by February 9 at
https://www.unh.edu/sustainability/sustainability-fellowships