CLF Releases Policy Case Studies for Northeast United States & Canada Embodied Carbon

by Michelle Lambert
CLF Policy Researcher

Policies that address embodied carbon are being proposed and adopted at all levels of government—federal, state and local—at a rapidly accelerating pace. Much of the attention to date has focused on policies on the West Coast, but great work and progress on embodied carbon policy is also happening in the Northeast.

This report highlights nine policies in the Northeast region of the United States and Canada as examples of successfully passed policies targeting embodied carbon reporting and reductions. Each case study explores the policy’s development process, the stakeholders engaged, any challenges faced, and lessons learned for the keys to successful adoption.

Policy is an essential step towards creating the scale of action required to rapidly reduce embodied carbon in construction. These policy case studies highlight only a small portion of embodied carbon policy action happening in the Northeast region, and this companion report highlights embodied carbon policies on the Pacific Coast. Looking forward, we expect to see the rapid proposal and adoption of similar policies across North America.