# October 2025 NGO/Government Roundtable on Embodied Carbon **URL:** \ **Category:** Roundtable: NGO/Government Alignment\ **Created:** [October 14, 2025, 9:58pm UTC](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/t/october-2025-ngo-government-roundtable-on-embodied-carbon/9182 "2025-10-14T21:58:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andrewhimesclf](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/community.carbonleadershipforum.org/andrewhimesclf/32/3266_2.png) [@andrewhimesclf](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/u/andrewhimesclf)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2025, 9:58pm UTC](https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/t/october-2025-ngo-government-roundtable-on-embodied-carbon/9182/1 "2025-10-14T21:58:13Z")
### The NGO/Government Roundtable has the following objectives: - Share news, strategic plans, resources, and tools related to embodied carbon. - Report planning and future dates for conferences, webinars, and meetings. - Inspire and facilitate ongoing communication and conversation among key leaders related to embodied carbon. - Encourage convergence on shared embodied carbon terminology, data standards, benchmarks, and targets for embodied carbon reduction. Should your organization be a member? Contact [Andrew Himes](mailto:andrew@carbonleadershipforum.org). [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/carbonleadershipforum/original/2X/8/80cce4c0d6f7e0e82a26d93e720d86ab6147db14.jpeg "October 2025 NGO/Government Roundtable on Embodied Carbon") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyY1CTBpAac) ### Agenda - CLF Staff Report - Rachelle Habchi - Julie Janiski - MEP 2040 “Beginner’s Guide to Embodied Carbon” plus Pilot Project - Colleen Loader - Canada Green Building Council - Mahsa Torabi - Life Cycle Lab, University of Washington - Willy Carlsen - WRI Industry Team - Irene Dominguez - Bellona Europa - Victor Olgyay - RMI - Lee Thrasher - Georgia Ready Mixed Concrete Association (GRMCA) - Andrea Cooper - Living Future # CLF Staff Report - Rachelle Habchi - [Embodied Carbon Pathways to 2050 for the United States](https://carbonleadershipforum.org/embodied-carbon-pathways-to-2050-for-the-united-states/)– Collab between CLF, UW LCL, and RMI - Aimed to address three questions - Projected US Carbon (A1 - A3) - Business as Usual - Target ECIs based on downscaled 1.5 °C aligned scenarios - Scenario analysis - Best-case scenario - Report Findings - Strategies - Report Findings - Policy - Building-level embodied carbon standards (e.g., kgCO₂e/m² limits in codes) - Financing and incentives for facility upgrades and raw material substitution - Product-level emissions standards (e.g. Clean Product Standards, product-level GWP limits in zoning and building codes) - Carbon pricing (e.g., cap-and-trade, border adjustments) - Building-level standards are a key complement to industrial regulations - Cap-and-trade systems and carbon border adjustment mechanisms provide flexible pathways for incentivizing facility changes - Product vs. facility standards: Product emissions standards had a higher impact than facility standards due to their ability to incentivize raw material substitution (\*cement and clinker substitution) # Julie Janiski - MEP 2040 “Beginner’s Guide to Embodied Carbon” plus Pilot Project - MEP2040 is a movement to radically reduce total carbon emissions associated with building systems through collective action - Published the [Beginner’s Guide to MEP Embodied Carbon](https://www.mep2040.org/guide) - ~ 15 co-authors – a cross-industry collaborative effort - A consolidated guide to performing quantity takeoffs for MEP system components, as well as US/global-based LCA phase calculation for MEP systems - A single whole life carbon MEP study (Wymer Hall) - What it’s not: - A comprehensive guide to measuring all MEP system components, we have purposely excluded air terminals, etc., with a thought of adhering to the Pareto principle in these early days - A definitive benchmark for the embodied carbon to expect for MEP systems across all buildings (try not to quote numbers or quote them in context!) - Working on publishing results on [MEP2040 Whole Life Carbon Pilot](https://www.mep2040.org/pilot) - Map out whole life carbon once you include MEP systems, based on the Beginner’s Guide - Diverse building use represented in the case studies – be able to pull mini trends from some building use types! - MEP has been embedded in the built environment space and in certification programs, as MEP2040 has gained traction and made an impact # Colleen Loader - Canada Green Building Council - Second National EC Summit - stakeholders across industries to talk about national strategy - Potential ideas from the summit - Solutions from the 2024 summit, and came up with 27 solutions - 2025 - took top solutions to brainstorm action items – DRAFT potential ideas: - National wbLCA results database - Tool and LCI database alignment - Harmonized wbLCA framework - EC in the national code for 2030 - Collection of costing data for low-carbon materials/design - Industry awareness - Professional knowledge and training - Various research in Canada - [NRC Canada’s Low-carbon concrete materials: current and emerging technologies](https://doi.org/10.4224/40003529)(July 2025) - [Build More, Emit Less: Growing and Greening Canadian Construction (Oct 22, 2025)](https://transitionaccelerator.ca/webinars/build-more-emit-less-growing-and-greening-canadian-construction)[/](https://transitionaccelerator.ca/webinars/build-more-emit-less-growing-and-greening-canadian-construction/) - [City of Vancouver building bylaw updates, effective Sept 15, 2025](https://vancouver.ca/green-vancouver/zero-emissions-buildings.aspx#embodied-carbon) - [National Research Council (NRC) Canada - Platform to Decarbonize the Construction Sector at Scale](https://nrc.canada.ca/en/research-development/research-collaboration/platform-decarbonize-construction-sector-scale) # Mahsa Torabi - Life Cycle Lab, University of Washington - POD|LCA Project – 3 years at UW, funded by ARPA-E - Parametric Open Data for LCA – Simplifying and supporting standardization of LCA with open source LCA tools. How do we know if a carbon-storing material is actually low-carbon? - Target Audience: - Material scientists and manufacturers of novel carbon-storing materials - Building scale LCA tool developers and standards, unifying assumptions and supporting advanced analysis - Policymakers and investors who want to have accurate and fair comparisons - Scope - Dynamic radiative forcing - Regionally specific end-of-life of biogenic products - Probabilistic assessment of variability and uncertainty - Building scale scenario explorers - Supporting open data ecosystems - Electrical grid decarbonization scenarios - POD|LCA hierarchy (top to bottom): - Web tools: data explorer dashboards - Desktop tools: - Material LCA screening tool - Builldings grasshopper tool - Python API - Impact data - Transportation - Electricity - End-of-life - Dynamic radiative forcing - Building model - Analysis - Methods, Models, and Data: the methods, models and data behind the POD|LCA Framework will be openly available on the POD|LCA Project website (URL tbd) - Contacts: - [mstorabi@uw.edu](mailto:mstorabi@uw.edu) - [ksimonen@u.edu](mailto:ksimonen@u.edu) - [etel5501@uw.edu](mailto:etel5501@uw.edu) to receive project updates # Willy Carlsen - WRI Industry Team - Publications - [Carbon Accounting in Chemicals](https://www.wri.org/technical-perspectives/chemical-accounting-emissions-transparency) - [7 Things to Know About CCUS](https://www.wri.org/insights/carbon-capture-technology) - [Clean Industry Impacts from Federal Action](https://www.wri.org/update/reconciliation-budget-bill-industry-divestment?apcid=000000000000000000000000) - [Community Centered Industrial Decarbonization](https://www.wri.org/insights/community-centered-industry-decarbonization) - [Recording of New York Climate Week Event - Green foundations – can reindustrialization cement a low-carbon future](https://www.climateweeknyc.org/green-foundations-can-reindustrialization-cement-low-carbon-future) - Operates the [Forum for International Green Industry](https://www.wri.org/initiatives/industrial-decarbonization/forum-international-green-industry) - [FIGI Newsletter Subscription and Archive](https://www.wri.org/forum-international-green-industry-newsletter) - [FIGI LinkedIn Page](https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/forum-international-green-industry/posts/?feedView=all) # Irene Dominguez - Bellona Europa - Climate NGO in Industrial Decarbonization – works on the embodied carbon team - The EU is working on a methodology to calculate the whole life carbon GWP of 2030 new buildings (in draft) - Industrial Accelerator Act - Industrial policy targeting materials – cement and steel - Voluntary labels for cement and steel - Cement: [Net-Zero Pathways for European Cement - Bellona EU](https://eu.bellona.org/publication/report-net-zero-pathways-for-european-cement/) - Upfront carbon on construction machinery - Report on the health impacts of the construction industry across targeted cities (in draft) - [From Oslo to the EU: The journey towards clean construction - Bellona EU](https://eu.bellona.org/publication/from-oslo-to-the-eu-the-journey-towards-clean-construction/) - Hafslund (Norwegian energy operator) created these guidelines for contractors to ease on energy planning:[Two guidelines for Zero Emission Construction Sites](https://www.klimaoslo.no/rapport/guidelines-for-zero-emission-construction-sites/) - [Bellona Europa LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/bellona-europa/) – react to any relevant policy developments in real time - [Monthly newsletter](https://bellona.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=e8b672e2cb23db5364bc8dd57&id=be58cbc345) # Victor Olgyay - RMI - RMI[Reducing Embodied Carbon in Buildings](https://rmi.org/insight/reducing-embodied-carbon-in-buildings/) - [RESNET 1550 Standard public comment period closed for 2nd draft](https://www.resnet.us/about/standards/hers/draft-pds-02-resnet-1550-embodied-carbon/) - Aiming to publish in Q1 2026 - Economics of Embodied Carbon “Part 2” report aiming for publication early 2026. Splicing feedback on what info would be useful to see. - Benchmark study of affordable homes in India aiming for first results by the end of this year. Collecting data is a major challenge - RMI is shifting some work to India and other areas where there is an opportunity for higher impact in EC in construction reduction - Actions: - [Third workshop to develop model policy and guideline language to integrate ec into C-PACE financing programs nationwide](https://rmi.org/event/workshop-refining-embodied-carbon-policy-language-for-c-pace/) - HomebuildersCAN seeking funding for a national embodied carbon benchmark study for residential buildings (single- and multi-family) - For any ideas for funders and sponsors, email [cmagwood@rmi.org](mailto:cmagwood@rmi.org) - PEER – US Partnerships for Embodied Emissions Reductions Group - Collaboration with RMI, Columbia University, ULI, Green Market Activation, and Built Buildings Lab - Carbon Ledger – prioritizing the value of whole life carbon in CRE - Book and Claim – draft framework for buyers to engage in the environmental attribute certificate market - With engagement from developers, finance experts, embodied carbon leaders, and others, these initiatives aim to unlock large capital flows for ec reduction by building finance-ready carbon data layers for whole life carbon in commercial real estate # Lee Thrasher - Georgia Ready Mixed Concrete Association (GRMCA) - [CTAC](https://www.concretetac.com/) program aimed at improving adherence to concrete acceptance testing standards - Mobile app platform that CO – challenges with acceptance testing for concrete - A tool to use to take data and provide various support and information - GRMCA – uses CTAC as support for sustainable design education - Barrier of the acceptance testing process in sustainable material education - Sustainable design opportunities with novel concrete materials – specifically cement – couple with testing side to break down barriers to testing of sustainable materials - Gathering data and case studies to aggregate across the state to identify gaps and opportunities across GA - [ASTM Workshop](https://na.eventscloud.com/website/83703/dec2025_workshop_c01_c09/) # Andrea Cooper - Living Future - VP of Buildings - Zero Carbon Pilot Program (formally launched 3 weeks ago) - Zero Carbon Certificate Program - Living Future is seeking pilot projects to utilize our new zero-carbon certification pathways, including existing buildings - Technical requirements: operational carbon, future refrigerants, embodied carbon, energy resilience - Measurement, reporting, and offset of carbon - Building typologies: new buildings, building renovations, interiors (existing), and existing buildings (pilot program addition) - Pilot eligibility criteria - Work directly with LF to share feedback - Buildings that have been in operation for 12 months or more - Able to report data by the end of 2027 for initial data, performance data by 2029