This month, we're excited to release the 2026 CLF North American Material Baselines, the latest update to one of CLF's most widely used resources. The new edition reflects the latest available data, helping practitioners benchmark projects, set meaningful targets, and make more informed material decisions.

Resources like the CLF North American Material Baselines have the greatest impact when they're put into practice. This month, we invite you to apply the updated baselines to one decision you're already making — whether that's reviewing a material specification, refining a procurement requirement, or preparing for a client conversation. Share the resource with a colleague, bring it to your next project meeting, or take a few minutes to explore what's new.

Data is only valuable when it's put to work. Thank you for being part of the CLF community and for helping turn better data into better decisions.

The 2026 CLF North American Material Baselines project continues the work of previous CLF Material Baselines reports and datasets. Like previous versions, the v2026 dataset aims to support decision-makers by providing an updated set of CLF baseline GWP values. These “CLF baselines” represent an estimate of industry-average GHG emissions for construction materials manufactured in North America. Their primary uses are:

• a basis of comparison; a reference point against which individual products can be evaluated; and 
• default GWP intensity values for project- or assembly-scale modeling.

This new 2026 version:

• adds and updates baseline values to reflect the latest published industry-wide data, with new values for dozens of product types across several categories, including brick, steel, wood, insulation, cladding and roofing, and flooring.
• follows the same methods documented in the v2025 report.
• is a downloadable spreadsheet file only (not a PDF report).
• does NOT include an updated “state of EPDs” snapshot or reflect new manufacturer EPD data. (For v2026, CLF focused on updating baselines based on new industry-average EPDs. We intend to continue to provide those bigger updates on odd-year publications, as we have in the past.) 

By Dirk von Below and Gordon Sharp, International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL)

Recognizing that laboratories use five to 10 times as much energy as office buildings, the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) created Labs2Zero to help reduce energy, costs, and emissions in the world’s research facilities. The program offers a variety of free building performance assessment and improvement tools to help lab owners, managers, designers, and engineers better understand and address their energy use and emissions. Labs2Zero tools are the first of their kind to benchmark and rate lab building performance.

Join a growing movement of researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and advocates working to decarbonize the building sector.

Ways to participate:

• Join the CLF Network – Connect with 10,000+ professionals worldwide

• Participate in regional CLF hubs

• Share or submit resources and case studies

• Attend CLF-hosted events and webinars

• Advocate for embodied carbon policies in your state

Your voice strengthens the community and accelerates progress.

About the Carbon Leadership Forum

Who We Are

• The Carbon Leadership Forum accelerates transformation of the building sector to radically reduce the embodied carbon in building materials and construction.
• We pioneer research, create resources, foster cross-sector collaboration, and incubate member-led initiatives to bring embodied carbon emissions of buildings down to zero.
• We are architects, engineers, contractors, material suppliers, building owners, and policymakers who care about the future and take bold steps to eliminate embodied carbon from buildings and infrastructure.

www.carbonleadershipforum.org

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Carbon Leadership Forum

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