Full Title: Lifecycle GHG Impacts in Building Codes
Author(s): Webly Bowles, Kim Cheslak, Jim Edelson
Publisher(s): New Buildings Institute
Publication Date: January 18, 2022
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
NBI’s report presents language to incorporate embodied carbon requirements in building codes. Researchers explain the need to address the embodied carbon of the highest emitting materials and the carbon emission benefits for jurisdictions. Until the report’s release, there was a lack of understanding of what a regulation on embodied carbon would look like in a U.S. base code. The code acknowledges the importance of building materials in the construction industry and aims to achieve practical reductions in climate impact by selecting lower embodied carbon materials. Example code language can be adopted by jurisdictions starting with EPD reporting to target GWP limits for specific materials, and finally moving to whole building lifecycle analysis.