The latest Lead or Pilot Partners supporting the Seattle nonprofit organization building the Embodied Carbon Calculator (EC3) represent a diverse set of manufacturers, suppliers, organizations or individual architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) entities fostering low-carbon public or private contract procurement. In addition to the Concrete Masonry and Hardscapes Association, GCP Applied Technologies and other new Building Transparency partners, global technology and North American architecture, construction and materials leaders have recently renewed their partnership commitments, including Amazon, Clark Construction, Google, Heidelberg Materials, Linkedin and Microsoft, Skanska, and Turner Construction.
Partners are driving continued development of the EC3, a free and easy-to-use tool that allows benchmarking, assessment and reductions in embodied carbon, and focuses on construction materials’ upfront supply chain emissions. Building Transparency Pilot Partners support material transparency while also improving carbon accounting efforts to make it easier to set and achieve emission reduction targets within built spaces. Lead Partners provide feedback on the EC3 tool and its evolution.
“New and returning partners reflect the importance of building decarbonization to leaders in tech, commerce and the AEC industry,” says Building Transparency Executive Director Stacy Smedley. “Each recognizes time is of the essence to reduce carbon emissions. We are grateful for and encouraged by these organizations’ passionate support of our mission to address embodied carbon’s role in climate change and create a better future for the planet.”
EMBODIED CARBON PRIMER
Building Transparency has published manufacturer, producer or supplier guidance for Buy Clean policies surfacing at federal, state and local agency levels. In the Manufacturer’s Guide to Embodied Carbon, the organization provides building carbon emissions accounting basics and steps for reducing construction materials, products or assemblies’ carbon footprints. The 16-page document was developed by the Building Transparency Materials Carbon Action Network (materialsCAN), representing members of the global building industry ready to act on smart prioritization of embodied carbon in project specifications.
“Supporting low-carbon procurement is a critical part of our effort to address embodied carbon’s role in climate change. Luckily, our tools, expertise, and data enable us to support policymakers as they create and explore what this could look like,” says Building Transparency Executive Director Stacy Smedley. “We also work ardently to educate manufacturers across the industry to understand embodied carbon and its impact on the environment. The Manufacturer’s Guide to Embodied Carbon is a resource for industry leaders to learn how to get started and act.”
The guide includes An Overview of What’s Driving Embodied Carbon Awareness & Action; How Customers Expect Manufacturers to Act on Embodied Carbon; Steps for Manufacturers to Reduce the Embodied Carbon Emissions of Products; and, Guidance on How to Make Progress Toward Carbon Negative Products (without Offsets).
The document is posted at https://materialscan.info.