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BE. Decarbonization of the Built Environment / BE-1.2. Decarbonize New Building Development /

BE-1.2SA-3Establish policies that incentivize developers to use less GHG intensive materials and practices...

Image: San Diego Daily Transcript

Progress

On time
  • Not started
  • Planning
  • In progress
  • Implementation
  • Completed

Official description

Establish policies that incentivize developers to use less GHG intensive materials and practices (EVs, Low-Carbon concrete, recycled materials, etc) including mass timber and modular construction
(Full action name in the CAP)

Embodied Carbon is addressed in Measure 1.2 Decarbonize New Building Development of the City of San Diego Climate Action Plan. Specifically, 1.2 SA-3 states that the City will “establish policies that incentivize developers to use less GHG intensive materials and practices (EVs, Low-Carbon concrete, recycled materials, etc) including mass timber and modular construction.”

Embodied Carbon refers to the “greenhouse gas emissions arising from the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of building materials. Approximately 30% of all global carbon emissions are attributed to the building sector, with at least 8% resulting from the manufacturing of construction materials.” (Embodied Carbon 101, Carbon Leadership Forum).

The Global Footprint of Embodied Carbon

While the City of San Diego does not currently have an embodied carbon policy, we have been engaging in several forms of research to identify which policies/ incentives would be the best fit for our jurisdiction.

Tasks

What's left to do?

  • Todo2024

    Create an embodied carbon guide to be used as educational material at ULI for private developers

  • Todo2025

    Develop recommendations for an embodied carbon policy within the Building Decarbonization Roadmap

What has been done?

  • Done04/01/2024

    Meet with non-profit and for-profit organizations and professionals who are subject experts in embodied carbon

  • Done04/01/2024

    Meet with other municipalities across the country (New York State, New York City, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Georgia) to learn about their embodied carbon policies

  • Done03/01/2024

    Conduct a survey of private sector developers, engineers, architects, material suppliers, policy professionals, and other stakeholders

    The goal was to gauge what the industry currently knows about embodied carbon, educational opportunities, main concerns, and preferences for different incentives the City could provide to make embodied carbon materials and best practices more feasible

Interdependent actions

Foundational
In progress (Late)
BE-1.2a. Develop and adopt a Building Electrification policy...requiring new residential and commercial buildings to eliminate th…
Next
Planning (On time)
BE-1.2SA-3. Establish policies that incentivize developers to use less GHG intensive materials and practices...

Lead department

Measure

  • Council Prioritization Score

    32.27

Action Timing

Reduce GHG Emissions

Community Identified Action

  • Feasibility score

    5.5(1-10)

  • Equity score

    1(1-10)
Information updated 07/12/2024