Embodied carbon/buildings

AN ACT Relating to reducing embodied carbon emissions of 1
buildings and building materials; adding new sections to chapter 2
19.27 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 43.30 RCW.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 19.27 5
RCW to read as follows: 6
(1) The state building code council shall adopt and amend rules 7
as necessary to accomplish the embodied carbon emissions reductions 8
required in section 8 of this act. In developing these standards, the 9
state building code council shall consult with the appropriate state 10
agencies, including the department of enterprise services, the 11
department of commerce, the department of ecology, the University of 12
Washington, and other interested parties. 13
(2) The embodied carbon emissions reductions established in 14
section 8 of this act shall apply to all new construction, additions, 15
and renovations 50,000 square feet or larger of any building covered 16
by the international commercial building code. 17
(3) The state building code council may introduce further 18
criteria as building data is collected over time. 19
H-0489.1
HOUSE BILL 1458
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Duerr, Doglio, Hunt, Mena, Berry, Reed, Ramel,
Parshley, Peterson, Scott, Pollet, and Hill
Read first time 01/21/25. Referred to Committee on Local Government.
p. 1 HB 1458
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 19.27 1
RCW to read as follows: 2
(1) Building projects that maintain at least 45 percent of an 3
existing structure and envelope comply with the embodied carbon 4
emissions reductions requirements established in section 8 of this 5
act. 6
(2) The state building code council shall adopt rules to 7
determine how 45 percent reuse of an existing structure and envelope 8
will be calculated, such as by cost, mass, area, or volume. Hazardous 9
materials or assemblies that are not compliant with energy code 10
requirements are excluded from these calculations.11
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 19.27 12
RCW to read as follows: 13
(1)(a) All building projects must demonstrate, and require in the 14
construction documents, that the embodied carbon emissions of the 15
covered products used, measured in terms of global warming potential 16
for at least 90 percent of covered products and summed up at the 17
project level, meets the goals established in section 8 of this act 18
when compared to the project's summed industry average global warming 19
potential. To achieve this reduction, building projects must use 20
project-specific material quantities and product and facility-21
specific environmental product declarations to demonstrate 22
compliance. 23
(b) The state building code council shall adopt rules to define 24
covered products; determine how the 90 percent of covered products 25
shall be calculated, such as by cost, mass, or volume; and establish 26
how industry average will be determined.27
(c) A building project's design professional of record shall 28
update quantity and embodied carbon emissions calculations based on 29
product and facility-specific environmental product declarations from 30
procured products and attest that they are accurate and comply with 31
the construction documents requirements to the best of the design 32
professional's knowledge. These calculations shall be verified as 33
accurate within the industry standard of care with a letter stamped 34
by a design professional of record. 35
(2) The state building code council shall create or designate a 36
template reporting form for consistent reporting on materials.37
(3) The state building code council may include additional 38
covered materials. 39
p. 2 HB 1458
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 19.27 1
RCW to read as follows: 2
(1) As an alternative to the requirements in section 3 of this 3
act, building projects may demonstrate the embodied carbon emissions 4
reductions using a whole building life-cycle assessment as compared 5
against a functionally equivalent reference building. The reference 6
building shall be of the same size, geographic location, function, 7
type, and thermal performance. The materials and material quantities 8
in the proposed building and the reference building may vary, 9
provided that the buildings are functionally equivalent.10
(2) Whole building life-cycle assessments and any modeling 11
software used must comply with international standards. Tools used 12
for life-cycle assessment calculations must have the capability to 13
complete full cradle to grave analysis as defined by the 14
international organization for standardization standard 14044.15
(3) The state building code council shall adopt rules to require 16
compliance with a quantification standard for building life-cycle 17
greenhouse gas emissions. Alternatively, the state building code 18
council may adopt rules to specify required building element scope, 19
life-cycle stages, reference study periods, impact categories, 20
allowable data sources, biogenic carbon modeling and reporting 21
guidance, material reuse and salvage reporting guidance, and at which 22
design stages the assessment should occur. The scope shall include, 23
at minimum, the covered products as defined by the building code 24
council. 25
(4) The design professional of record responsible for the 26
embodied carbon calculations and reporting shall be specified in the 27
architect of record construction documents. The state building code 28
council shall provide a worksheet to be completed by project teams 29
for consistent reporting. The design professional of record shall 30
stamp an attestation that the designed building complies with this 31
section. The attestation shall be submitted along with the permit and 32
documents showing compliance. 33
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 43.30 34
RCW to read as follows: 35
(1) All embodied carbon emissions reductions data must be entered 36
by the design professional of record on a standard form and public 37
database created and maintained by the department of commerce. At 38
minimum, the database must include basic information about the 39
p. 3 HB 1458
project, project area, which compliance pathway was selected, and how 1
the project met the standards for the selected pathway.2
(2) The department shall develop a public-facing website with 3
educational resources to support implementation. The website must:4
(a) Detail the embodied carbon emissions reductions requirements 5
in the state building code; 6
(b) Outline reporting requirements and guidelines;7
(c) Provide instructions for the use of the database;8
(d) Provide guidance for whole building life-cycle assessments; 9
and 10
(e) Provide checklists, templates, training, and other tools as 11
needed to support implementation. 12
(2) The department shall conduct random audits on three percent 13
of projects annually. 14
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 19.27 15
RCW to read as follows: 16
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 17
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 18
(1) "Design professional of record" means an architect or 19
engineer licensed pursuant to Title 18 RCW. 20
(2) "Embodied carbon emissions" means the amount of greenhouse 21
gas emissions associated with the extraction, manufacturing, 22
transport, installation, maintenance, and disposal of construction 23
products throughout the product's life. 24
(3) "Global warming potential" means the potential climate change 25
impact of a product or process as measured by a life-cycle 26
assessment. "Global warming potential" is the metric for tracking 27
embodied carbon emissions and is reported in units of carbon dioxide 28
equivalent. 29
(4) "Product and facility-specific environmental product 30
declarations" means a type III environmental product declaration, as 31
defined by the international organization for standardization 32
standard 14025, representing a single product from a single 33
manufacturing facility. 34
(5) "Whole building life-cycle assessment" means a cradle to 35
grave assessment covering life-cycle stages A-C as defined by the 36
international organization for standardization standard 21931-1, 37
excluding modules B6 and B7, or similarly robust whole building life-38
cycle assessment methods or whole life carbon assessment standards 39
p. 4 HB 1458
that evaluate the environmental impacts of a building including, at a 1
minimum, global warming potential. 2
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 19.27 3
RCW to read as follows: 4
(1) The state building code council shall convene an embodied 5
carbon emissions reductions technical advisory group pursuant to RCW 6
19.27.033 for the purpose of recommending modifications and 7
limitations to the international building code adopted by Washington 8
regarding embodied carbon emissions reductions standards for 9
residential and nonresidential buildings. 10
(2) The technical advisory group shall, at minimum, consist of 11
the following members: 12
(a) State agency representatives, ex officio; 13
(b) A representative from the commercial building industry;14
(c) A representative from the residential building industry;15
(d) An architect; 16
(e) A representative from an environmental organization;17
(f) A local government building official; 18
(g) A person with expertise on water efficiency;19
(h) A fire official; 20
(i) A mechanical engineer; 21
(j) A structural engineer; 22
(k) An electrical engineer; and 23
(l) A manufacture or supplier from a structural material group.24
(3) The technical advisory group shall provide its 25
recommendations to the council in time for the council to adopt or 26
amend rules or codes as necessary for implementation in the 2030 27
international building code. The council shall take action to adopt 28
additions and amendments to rules or codes as necessary by July 1, 29
2026. 30
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. A new section is added to chapter 19.27 31
RCW to read as follows: 32
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, 33
construction permitted under the 2030 state building code must 34
achieve a 30 percent reduction in embodied carbon emissions from a 35
project-wide static baseline using the carbon leadership forum 2023 36
material baselines or comparable industry average data sources 37
determined by the state building code council, or achieve a 30 38
p. 5 HB 1458
percent reduction in embodied carbon emissions compared to the 1
reference building as described in section 4 of this act.2
(2) The state building code council shall require product and 3
facility-specific environmental product declarations and project 4
reporting for covered products in the 2024 code cycle. The state 5
building code council shall adopt state building codes in the 2027 6
and 2030 code cycles that incrementally move towards achieving the 30 7
percent reduction in annual embodied carbon emissions as specified in 8
subsection (1) of this section. The state building code council shall 9
report its progress by December 31, 2028, and every three years 10
thereafter. The department of commerce shall report major findings 11
from the database of projects and audits required in section 5 of 12
this act conducted on the same timeline. 13
--- END ---
p. 6 HB 1458