Developing an Embodied Carbon Policy Reduction Calculator - Quantifying the embodied emissions reduction potentials of city policies

Abstract

The Buy Clean California Act requires the California Department of General Services (DGS), in consultation with the California Air Resources Board, to establish maximum acceptable global warming potential (GWP) limits at industry-average for structural steel (hot-rolled sections, hollow structural sections, and plate), concrete reinforcing steel, flat glass, and mineral wool board insulation (heavy and light). DGS is directed to set these limits at the industry average using data from facility-specific environmental product declarations (EPDs) or industry-wide EPDs based on domestic production data. The goal of this report is to propose industry-average GWP values for eligible materials under BCCA using a methodology that 1) meets the requirements and intent of the BCCA; 2) is representative of typical manufacturing production; and 3) is constrained to high quality, published LCA data sources that are available as of December 2021.