BuyCleanandBeyond AGuidetoReachingNet-ZeroEmbodiedCarboninState-OwnedBuildingProjects Report/November2023 AuthorsandAcknowledgments LeadAuthors RebeccaEsauAnishTilakConnorUsry ContributingAuthor VictorOlgyay Authorslistedalphabetically.AllauthorsarefromRMIunlessotherwisenoted. Contacts RebeccaEsau,resau@rmi.org VictorOlgyay,volgyay@rmi.org CopyrightsandCitation RebeccaEsau,AnishTilak,ConnorUsry,andVictorOlgyay,BuyCleanandBeyond:AGuidetoReaching Net-ZeroEmbodiedCarboninState-OwnedBuildingProjects,RMI,2023,https://rmi.org/insight/guide-to-road-mapping-state-owned-building-projects-to-reach-net-zero-embodied-carbon/. RMIvaluescollaborationandaimstoacceleratetheenergytransitionthroughsharingknowledgeandinsights.Wethereforeallowinterestedpartiestoreference,share,andciteourworkthroughtheCreativeCommonsCCBY-SA4.0license.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. AllimagesarefromiStock.comunlessotherwisenoted. Acknowledgments Wethankthefollowingindividualsforofferingtheirinsightsandperspectivesonthiswork: •NoraEsram,ACEEE •PavitraSrinivasan,ACEEE •StacySmedley,BuildingTransparency •MeghanLewis,CarbonLeadershipForum •KateSimonen,CarbonLeadershipForum •WeblyBowles,NewBuildingsInstitute •KareemHammoud,USClimateAlliance •SravanChalasani,RMI •ZhinanChen,RMI •ChathurikaGamage,RMI •RadhikaLalit,RMI •AlisaPeterson,RMI •BenSkinner,RMI •LachlanWright,RMI Theviewsexpressedinthisreportdonotnecessarilyreflectthoseoftheindividualsacknowledgedabove. AboutRMI RMIisanindependentnonprofit,foundedin1982asRockyMountainInstitute,thattransformsglobalenergysystemsthroughmarket-drivensolutionstoalignwitha1.5°Cfutureandsecureaclean,prosperous,zero-carbonfutureforall.Weworkintheworld’smostcriticalgeographiesandengagebusinesses,policymakers,communities,andnongovernmentalorganizationstoidentifyandscaleenergysysteminterventionsthatwillcutgreenhousegasemissionsatleast50percentby2030.RMIhasofficesinBasaltandBoulder,Colorado;NewYorkCity;Oakland,California;Washington,D.C.;andBeijing. TableofContents ExecutiveSummary5 Introduction7 EstablishingaBuyCleanPolicy8 CurrentActionsbyUSStates8 StreamliningStateBuyCleanImplementation10 PathForwardforStateBuyCleanPolicies14 QuantifyingtheEmbodiedCarbonFootprintofStateBuildings14 ConstructionRate14 MaterialQuantities15 MaterialImpact16 IndustrialOutlook(ConcreteandSteelIndustryTargets)18 ConcreteTargets18 SteelTargets20 EmissionsTargetsforBuyClean23 BeyondBuyClean24 PilotsandPoliciesThatCatalyzeDeeplyDecarbonizedMaterialMarkets24 Whole-ProjectEmbodiedCarbonPerformanceStandards25 Climate-SmartPortfolioPlanning26 Conclusion27 Endnotes28 ExecutiveSummary Withinthewalls,floors,andfoundationsofourbuildingsisanoften-overlookedsourceofclimatepollutioncommonlyreferredtoasembodiedcarbon—themillionsoftonsofcarbonemittedduringtheextraction,manufacturing,transport,construction,andend-of-lifedisposalofthematerialsthatsurroundus.Public-andprivate-sectorstakeholdersmustactnowtoestablishpathwaystodecarbonizingbuildingandinfrastructuredesignandconstruction,includingreducingemissionsfrombuildingmaterialsupplychains.Byaddressingembodiedcarboninstate-ownedprojects,governmentagenciescanachievesubstantialemissionsreductionswhileshiftingbroaderconstructionmarketstowardlower-carbonpractices. Thisreportoutlineshowstategovernmentscandeveloparoadmaptoreachnet-zeroembodiedcarbonemissionsfrompublicbuildingprojectsovertime.Fourcorestrategiesareoutlinedinthisreport: Arobust“BuyClean”procurementprogramwithemissionsstandardsformajorbuildingmaterials,aclearpathtoincreasingthestringencyandclimateimpactofthesetargetsovertime,andincentivesformanufacturerstoprovidematerialswithdeeperembodiedcarbonsavings, Pilotsandpoliciesthatincentivizeorrequirethepurchasingofadvanced, deeplydecarbonizedmaterials, Whole-projectembodiedcarbonperformancestandardstoenableholisticbenchmarkingofstate-ownedbuildingprojects, Aclimate-smartportfolioplanningframeworkthatcapturestheembodiedcarbonvalueofpreservation,renovation,andadaptivereuseofexistingbuildings. RMIGraphic Adoptingamultifacetedapproachtoreducingembodiedcarbonfromstatebuildingswillyieldsignificantcarbonsavingsovertime,helpingstategovernmentsachievetheirclimatereductiongoalswhilemovingthemarkettowardnet-zeroembodiedcarbonbuildingsforall. ThemostcommonstrategyadoptedbystategovernmentstodayisaconstructionmaterialprocurementpolicyknownasBuyClean.AnincrementallyaggressiveBuyCleanstandardforbuildingmaterials canbepairedwiththreeothercomplementarystrategiestoachieveabuildingportfoliowithnet-zeroembodiedcarbon. Thesecondstrategyincludespilotprojects,minimumquotasforprocurement,andadvancedpurchasingcommitmentstocatalyzemarketsfordisruptive,deeplydecarbonizedmaterials,suchaszero-carboncement,zero-carbonsteel,masstimber,andbio-basedinsulationandfinishmaterials. Thethirdstrategysetsembodiedcarbonbenchmarksattheprojectlevel.Creatingawhole-projectemissionsstandardwillgiveprojectteamsflexibilityinhowtheyachieveemissionsreductionsthroughdesignchoicesinadditiontoconstructionmaterialprocurement.This