(D07) The Urgency for A National Embodied Carbon Code

As energy policies draw down operational carbon emissions in the built environment, embodied carbon becomes a larger share of buildings’ carbon footprint along its life. Embodied carbon policies are now urgently needed to meet climate goals. A growing patchwork of policies across the US uniquely addresses embodied carbon; but for successful climate policy, jurisdictions, designers, developers, and product manufacturers alike need a unified approach. Embodied carbon policies will be more successful when requirements and reporting are standardized. The building code can further protect the public’s life safety by addressing embodied carbon on every new building and major renovation in every state across the nation. Through embodied carbon standards that are adopted by codes and policies, the built environment can reduce 11% out of 40% of global GHG emissions associated with buildings. California has proposed state-level requirements to address the 11%. This legislation will have positive impacts on the design and delivery of future buildings, and the work of building professionals. This session will lay the foundation for how to unify embodied carbon policies to achieve climate goals, with an overview of current policies in the works. Embodied carbon is one of the least appreciated facets of carbon output from construction, and while operational carbon can be reduced over time by increasing a building's efficiency and switching to clean energy, the embodied carbon of a building is sealed into the atmosphere by the time the building is built and cannot be adjusted after the fact. Per Architecture 2030, embodied carbon will have a bigger impact going forward on our carbon output than operational carbon, if no intervention happens to develop a framework for embodied carbon reduction.