5 – Building-Scale Embodied Carbon Performance Requirements

This factsheet provides an overview of how performance-based building policy requirements can help address embodied carbon, why they should be a policy priority, and examples of existing policy paths.

Building-scale embodied carbon performance requirements fill a current gap in building climate policies by targeting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the materials and construction processes across the life cycle of buildings, referred to as embodied carbon. Reducing embodied emissions can also reduce environmental and human health impacts from pollution at manufacturing facilities, highways, construction sites, and landfills. Building policies engage design and construction teams to design more material-efficient and lower-carbon buildings and to specify lower-carbon products.

This document provides an overview of how performance-based building policy requirements can help address embodied carbon, why they should be a policy priority, and examples of existing policy paths.