In a new feature for gb&d magazine, SOM Senior Associate Principal Marzia Sedino—who leads the firm’s Sustainable Engineering Studio (SES) in Chicago—shares how SOM’s in-house team of environmental engineers is advancing low-carbon design from concept through construction. Alongside fellow practice leaders Mina Hasman in London and Shona O’Dea in San Francisco, Sedino helps lead a growing global team of 20 professionals across five cities.
As Sedino explains in the interview, SES is deeply integrated into the design process, delivering whole-life carbon accounting, embodied-carbon tracking, and performance-driven strategies across all projects. “That’s how we learn the data, improve the way we design, and then apply it back to other projects,” she said. “That is a commitment the leadership made—dedicating budgets and time for that.”
The article spotlights recent SES-led work on the LEED Platinum 500 County Center—the first net-zero energy civic building in the U.S. constructed with mass timber—and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Campus Instructional Facility, which now plays an active role in the school’s engineering curriculum.
As a central force in SOM’s climate action efforts, SES not only supports internal projects, but is also expanding its services externally—contributing to a more sustainable future for the built environment.
