Embodied Carbon Limits: New Language for Codes and Specs

Published by BuildingGreen: Aspirational limits on embodied carbon in our buildings are all well and good, but how do you actually determine and implement those limits? New code language and a new model specification could be the ticket. New Buildings Institute (NBI) has developed and submitted code language that it hopes will be adopted by the International Code Council. “Building codes are set to move the laggards, the rest of the market that wouldn’t do it unless they had to,” said Webly Bowles, AIA, Senior Project Manager at NBI. Targeting the worst offenders, the language specifies embodied carbon limits for: multiple strengths of concrete, concrete masonry units, structural steel, reinforcing steel, and glass.