The thesis research topic I chose is the methodology of calculating the carbon footprint of a building. I chose this topic because I care a lot about our environment and sustaining it. How can I take a site and not wipe it clean and start with my own ideas and design, but to sit back and look at how the site itself can guide my design? I've been working on studying different types of building materials and calculating their individual emissions. I will further research how to adapt or change those materials to reduce carbon emissions. I think it is important to realize that we are first and foremost integrating into nature and not throwing up a build and then going back to integrate nature back within the site. I was at a hunting cabin a couple of weeks ago and they told the story of how they built the cabin and they had said that each tree that was cut down for the location of the cabin was planned out and used for the structure and finishes. Materials that belong on the site are used on the build. I really want to work towards being more aware of the existing site and working more on my perspective of existing elements and how important they are. Destroying existing elements within a single site is “small” & “unimpactful” is not the way to think while designing architecture because the Earth is our site. The more we ruin and destroy individual sites will result in destroying our Earth. I started researching how to calculate a buildings carbon footprint and struggled to find enough information to realistically find out results. This thesis topic intrigued me to study a deeper way to be able to understand the carbon footprint of a design before it is built and how to reduce an existing building’s carbon emissions.