Key For Policies Listed Below

◼ Regulation
◻ Standard
● Embodied Carbon Consideration Required
○ Embodied Carbon Consideration Optional

Carbon Reduction
1 Carbon Reporting
2 Carbon Comparison
3 Carbon Rating
4 Carbon Cap × Simplified method

Cap/Rating Type
* Self-declared
† Methodology
‡ Fixed scale
? Not determined

Carbon Incentive
# Rating points
▷ Funding criteria
$ Cash impact
! Mandatory

Product EPD Use
a Documentation
b Use in life cycle analysis
c Buy low-carbon

Policies

International
ISO 14040 ◻ ● 1 b
ISO 14044 ◻ ● 1 b
ISO/FDIS 21929-1 ◻ ● 1 b
ISO FDIS 21931-1 ◻ ● 1 b
ISO 21930 ◻ ● 1 b

Canada
Public Services & Procurement Canada (PSPC) ◼ ● 1 * ▷ b
Quebec’s Wood Charter ◼ ● 2 * ▷ b

United States
ASTM E2921 ◻ ○ 1
International Green Construction Code ◼ ○ 2 * a

California
Buy Clean California Act (AB-262) ◼ ○ x ▷ a
California Green Building Code 2016 ◼ ○ 2 * # a

Minnesota
B3 Guidelines ◼ ● 2 * ▷ b

United Kingdom
Whole Life Carbon Assessment for the Built Environments ◻ ● 1 b
PAS 2080 ◻ ● 1 b
PAS 2050 ◻ ● 1 b
London Plan 2018 ◼ ○ 1 !
HS2 Technical Standard—Carbon Footprinting and Life Cycle Assessment ◼ ● 4 † ! b

Europe
EN 15978 ◻ ● 1 b
EN 15804 ◻ ● 1 b
EN 15643-5 ◻ ● 1 b

Ireland
Transport Infrastructure Ireland ◼ ● 1 #

France
Order of July 9, 2014, Amending the Decree of December 23, 2013 ◼ ○ × ! a

Norway
Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property Requirements ◼ ● 4 † ! c
NS 3720 ◻ ● 1 b

Sweden
Climate Declaration of Buildings ◼ ● 1 b
TDOK 2015:2017 ◼ ● 2 † ! c

Finland
Life Cycle Assessment of Buildings ◼ ● b
Building Performance Metrics ◻ ○ 1 b

Belgium
2014-05-22/34 Royal Decree Fixing Minimum Requirements ◼ ● × ! a
Environmentally Related Material Performance of Building Elements ◼ ● 3 ‡ ! b

The Netherlands
Assessment of the Environmental Performance of Constructions and Civil Engineering Work ◻ ● 1 b
Building Act 2012 ◼ ● 4 ‡ ! B
Rijkswaterstaat procurement policy ◼ ● 3 † $ c

Switzerland
Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects Instructions 2032 ◻ ● 1

Policy Clearinghouse

Architecture 2030 is identifying additional policy precedents that illustrate the breadth of ways in which embodied carbon can be regulated. Here are a few examples:

Low-Carbon Concrete Carbon Code, USA/California: Marin and Alameda counties are working on an International Building Code amendment to limit the embodied carbon in concrete applications.

Deconstruction of Buildings Law, USA/Portland, Ore.: Portland requires that single-family homes in affected zones be deconstructed by certified contractors to maximize salvageable, reusable material.

2000-Watt Society Goal, Switzerland/Zurich: The city of Zurich has set a 2050 target for life-cycle embodied carbon of 8.5kg CO₂ emissions/square meter for residential buildings, as part of a pledge to reduce energy usage and embodied carbon.

Sustainable Building Assessment, Germany: A green rating program for new government projects that requires whole-building life cycle analysis (LCA) and rewards performance as tracked against a benchmark.

Mandatory Certification of Minergie-Eco, Switzerland/Zurich: Zurich requires that all new government buildings obtain Minergie-Eco certification, which includes a performance target or whole-building LCA of embodied energy.

Construction and Demolition Debris Recycling and Reuse Policy, USA/Los Angeles: The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is required to give precedence to recyclable and recycled construction materials.

To see more from Architecture 2030’s still-growing collection of policy precedents, visit achieving-zero.org/policy-precedents.

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• Concrete, Steel, or Wood: Searching for Zero-Net-Carbon Structural Materials

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• How to Measure Embodied Carbon

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• Renovation, Restoration, and Adaptive Reuse: The Understated Value of Existing Buildings

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• Aim Higher: How to Transition Your Firm to Zero Net Carbon

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