The California Carbon Report Summary: Six Key Takeaways for Policymakers

Abstract

In early 2024, we published The California Carbon Report: An Analysis of the Embodied and Operational Carbon Impacts of 30 Buildings, which explored the magnitude and timing of embodied and operational carbon emissions for 30 real building projects in California. This included estimating the whole life carbon impacts of the buildings over time, exploring variability across different projects, and identifying top contributors to carbon emissions.

This document serves as a summary of key takeaways from the full report. Though it is relevant for building designers, owners, builders, and engineers, the target audience for this document is policymakers working to decarbonize the building sector in the State of California. The six key takeaways for policymakers are:

1. Embodied carbon impacts are substantial 2. The timing of emissions matters 3. It is critical to decarbonize the grid AND reduce fossil fuels in buildings 4. Concrete and steel emissions are big, but they aren’t the only things that matter 5. Building-scale assessments are valuable 6. We don’t yet know the full picture