The Carbon Leadership Forum’s “theory of change” is a kind of roadmap to guide our work. We begin by articulating our long-term goal of decarbonizing the built environment, with a focus on reducing the carbon footprint of materials. We then identify the necessary to meet that goal – for example, a knowledgeable community of connected collaborators, government and corporate policies in place to help drive change, reliable, transparent, openly accessible data, and powerful tools to help designers lower the carbon footprint of their projects. Finally, we identify the specific work CLF uniquely must do to deliver those outcomes.

A key component of CLF’s theory of change involves informing the development of policies that can drive decarbonization. This does not mean that we lobby for specific policies. However, we do believe that decarbonization policy, to be effective, must be technically appropriate and of high quality. It must be based on rigorous research and informed by robust methodology. And it must lead to equitable outcomes and healthy communities. We are grateful for the opportunity to help inform and refine policy proposals, supporting both government and private sector policies and practices.

As CLF’s Meghan Lewis notes in this newsletter, several states are now taking big steps on embodied carbon this legislative session. Procurement policies related to embodied carbon were introduced in eight states in 2021, and the Governor of Colorado has now signed a law titled “Global Warming Potential for Public Project Materials” -- popularly known as Buy Clean Colorado -- designed to reduce embodied carbon in materials procured for tax-funded projects. We are proud that CLF’s Policy Toolkit is playing a significant role informing these initiatives!

Now is the Time to Reconsider
the Products of Our Built Environment

Next in the series: Building Systems
July 19, 2021, 5:00 pm PST

After a year of Covid-19, environmental crises, and calls for social justice, ‘Healthy Materials’ could not be more important. We have seen the air polluted with carbon from the extraction of raw materials. We have seen manufacturing plants release toxic by-products into the air and water, compromising neighborhoods predominantly of color. We have seen contagions spread through our buildings, ill-equipped to suppress such viruses and bacteria. We have seen fires burn toxicity into our air, poisoning our firefighters and neighbors. Now is the time to reimagine the products of our built environment.

Local AIA COTE, CLF, and USGBC chapters in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles present the Healthy Materials Series, a 6-part program that started in May 2021 and continue through August 2021.

CLF Analysis of Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Definitions in Buy Clean and other North American Procurement Policies

Un nombre croissant de politiques d'approvisionnement locales, étatiques et fédérales exigent des déclarations environnementales de produits (EPD) pour déclarer le carbone incorporé des produits éligibles. Le carbone incorporé fait référence aux émissions de gaz à effet de serre résultant de la fabrication, de l'installation, de l'entretien et de l'élimination des matériaux de construction utilisés dans la construction de bâtiments, de routes et d'autres infrastructures. Les politiques d'approvisionnement telles que Buy Clean visent à tirer parti du pouvoir d'achat des agences gouvernementales pour inciter à la transparence et à une évolution vers des options à faible émission de carbone sur le marché plus large des matériaux de construction.

Les EPD peuvent être utilisées dans les politiques d'approvisionnement car elles existent déjà en tant que ressources convenues pour le calcul et la documentation du carbone incorporé des produits. Il existe des limites à l'utilisation des EPD à des fins de comparaison, et il est possible d'améliorer les EPD et les règles de catégorie de produits (PCR). Les politiques visant à comparer les produits entre les catégories (comme entre le béton et l'acier) devraient envisager une approche à l'échelle du bâtiment et utiliser l'analyse du cycle de vie du bâtiment (ACV).

Colorado Leads the Way!

par Meghan Lewis
Chercheur senior, Carbon Leadership Forum

Les États font de grands pas sur l'action du carbone incorporé cette session législative. Des politiques d'approvisionnement liées au carbone incorporé ont été introduites dans huit États en 2021, dont Washington, Oregon, Californie, Colorado, Minnesota, Connecticut, New York et New Jersey.

The first of these bills was signed into law this summer on July 6, as Buy Clean Colorado, introduced as House Bill 21-1303 in the Colorado General Assembly, became the second state procurement policy focused on embodied carbon to become state law. Buy Clean CO will phase in requirements environmental product declarations and global warming potential limits for asphalt, cement, concrete, glass, steel, and wood for state projects. The Office of the State Architect and Department of Transportation will lead implementation of the bill for buildings and transportation infrastructure respectively.