From LCA curiosity to collective action at PNW Climate Week

A few weeks earlier I had shared how my search for "what makes a product truly sustainable?" led me to life cycle assessment, and how it changed my approach to product management. That post started conversations with builders, designers and leaders who also wanted to move from awareness to action.

So we made a room for it. As lead volunteer for PNW Climate Week 2025, I co-led the Sustainable Design track and a first LCA workshop in Seattle. It drew more than 100 registrations, and 60+ consultants and sustainable design professionals came.

What I learned from the room

• The appetite is real. People did not need convincing that LCA matters. They wanted a way in.
• Language is a barrier. GWP, PCR, EPD, cradle-to-gate. A shared glossary goes a long way.
• Data is the bottleneck. Almost every conversation came back to where the inventory data comes from, and how much of it is guesswork.
• Consultants are the hub. LCA practitioners sit between manufacturers, program operators, software and buyers. Their workflow is where the friction collects.

That last point shaped what I built next: the Climate Action Profile concept for LCA discovery.

Why community work is product work

Running an event is discovery at scale. Sixty people describing their bottlenecks in one afternoon is better research than most interview programs. More of my events are on Luma.