CalBEM Presents: Exploring Carbon Assessment Tools and Regulations in California and Beyond
CalBEM is excited to present the latest cross-pollination Working Group webinar on the topic of carbon assessment.
The panel will explore how carbon assessment tools, regulations, and modeling practices are shaping design decision-making across Europe, Canada, and California, including gaps in what current tools measure and how they are used. The discussion will consider the balance between specialist expertise and automation, the role of government in providing accessible and credible tools, and how carbon assessment can better integrate with energy modeling and real-world design constraints.
Panelists:
• Nurra Barry, Founder & CEO, Carbon Saver, Applied AI for low-carbon construction
• Sara Motamedi, Director of Energy & Carbon, Verdical Group, PhD in Sustainable Design
• Casey Castor, Principal of Practice Labs + Director of Sustainability, Practice & Co-Founder at Mack Research, AIA-LA COTE Chair, LEED AP BD+C
Moderator: Richard Hofmeister, Founder + Principal, REGENArch, regenerative architecture and strategic advisory practice
Don’t miss this exciting discussion!
Register today by emailing info@calbem.org
Panelist Bios:
Nurra Barry is the founder and CEO of Carbon Saver, a Franco-Canadian B2B platform that automates carbon lifecycle assessment inside architects’ existing design tools. Carbon Saver is an accredited developer for both Autodesk and Graphisoft, and its 3D placement engine was co-developed with Orléans University researchers. The company holds France’s GreenTech Innovation label from the Ministry of Ecology and CSTB’Lab recognition (regulator). Nurra received the Prix Margaret in 2024 under the patronage of President Macron and is based between Montreal and Paris.
Sara Motamedi, Director of Energy & Carbon at Verdical Group, is a building performance scientist advocating for design that is environmentally conscious while also adding value to human life. She has over 10 years of experience in the green building industry, working on LEED, Net Zero Energy, Title 24, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and embodied carbon projects. Sara’s passion for sustainable design motivated her to pursue a PhD in the field, with a specialization in energy efficiency from UT Austin. She has broad experience in thermal and visual comfort analysis, Title 24 modeling, energy simulation, daylighting, and wind pattern analysis using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Her work also includes whole-building and material-level LCA, embodied carbon analysis, and evaluating strategies to reduce both operational and embodied carbon throughout a building’s life cycle.
Casey Castor is a Principal of Practice Labs and Director of Sustainability at Practice, where he leads sustainable design across Practice schools, civic projects, and affordable housing projects as well as sustainability consulting services across typologies and clients. He holds a degree in architectural design and a masters’ in building science allowing him to bring a metrics-driven approach to integrating sustainability into every phase of project development. Casey is also the co-founder of Mack Research, which is advancing a vertical wind energy technology for building facades. As 2026 Chair of AIA|LA’s Committee on the Environment, he champions policies and strategies that align built environments with climate goals. His work is rooted in innovation, environmental resilience, and community-centered design. Casey received the Rising Star Planet Positive Award from Metropolis magazine in 2025 showing national recognition for his work in sustainability especially for underserved communities.
Richard Hofmeister is a licensed architect in California since 2001 and Principal of Regenerative Architecture (REGENARCH), a practice focused on eco-innovation and sustainable development. REGENARCH creates resilient, affordable housing solutions for rural and urban communities, built with healthy building systems and powered by renewable energy, in pursuit of air, water, and land regeneration. Carbon net-zero tools are central to this work, and Richard sees the integration of those tools into California’s energy compliance framework and its 2030 to 2045 net-zero goals as one of the field’s most important emerging frontiers.
Register today by emailing info@calbem.org