Lake|Flato Architects Every design has an impact. Total carbon management helps make it a positive one. Lake|Flato Architects, a leader in sustainable architecture design in the United States, has received 13 AIA COTE awards for sustainable design excellence—more than any other architect. The 昀椀rm is driven by the goal of total carbon management and making the best decisions possible for the design itself and impact on the climate. To manage operational carbon, Lake|Flato uses Autodesk Insight software for high-performance building design. Insight enables Lake|Flato to quickly, easily, and accurately model the impacts of design decisions on the overall energy consumption of each project. Tally—the 昀椀rst lifecycle assessment app to calculate the environmental impacts of building material selections directly in a Revit model—is another key tool in Lake|Flato’s arsenal for measuring and managing embodied carbon. The list of materials and quantities generated in Tally imports directly into the EC3 tool, fostering a more ef昀椀cient work昀氀ow that optimizes both tools’ capabilities. Located in the heart of downtown Austin, Lake|Flato’s recent Hotel Magdalena project is the 昀椀rst mass timber boutique hotel constructed in North America and demonstrates the total carbon bene昀椀ts of this approach compared to more conventional construction. According to Lake|Flato, “Results indicate that when including biogenic carbon, switching to a mass timber structural system can provide a tremendous carbon reduction, ranging from 38% to 58% depending on how much mass timber is replacing concrete or steel. When biogenic is not included, the carbon reduction ranges from 7% to 17%.” Learn more