ASHRAE and the International Code Council announced joint development of a standard to assess carbon emissions across the entire building life cycle.

Proposed ASHRAE/ICC Standard 240P - Evaluating Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and Carbon Emissions in Building Design, Construction and Operation, will provide a whole life carbon approach to support emissions reductions in buildings. The proposed standard establishes how to measure and verify the greenhouse gas (GHG) and carbon emissions of a building, or group of buildings, over the entire life cycle. The goal is to provide consistent procedures and data to be referenced by policies, codes, and other standards that address new and existing building performance.

“There is growing demand around the world for consistent building decarbonization guidance that acknowledges the impact of carbon emissions transpired at the beginning of the construction phase to demolition, and accounts for the changes in building operation and performance over time,” said 2022-23 ASHRAE President Farooq Mehboob, Fellow Life Member. “This proposed standard will offer a comprehensive structure for evaluating energy use and supporting greenhouse gas emission reductions, as well as serve as a keystone towards harmonizing guidance within the global marketplace. We appreciate the Code Council’s partnership on this important standard.”

The proposed standard will cover the following:

• All buildings including existing and new, residential and commercial, and groups of buildings, or portions of buildings.
• Determination, including the calculation methodology and expression of building zero net GHG and zero net carbon status in building operations.
• Calculation of GHG and carbon emissions associated with on-site and off-site material, energy and carbon flows.
• Embodied GHG and carbon emissions of building materials and systems.

“Buildings and the building construction sector are responsible for about 40 percent of total CO2 emissions globally. As energy codes continue to deliver increased reductions in building operational energy use, a holistic approach that addresses the entire building life-cycle is essential,” said Code Council Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims, CBO. “The Code Council is dedicated to supporting communities worldwide in meeting their energy and decarbonization goals; the proposed standard 240P will be an essential tool towards reducing the impacts of buildings and adapting to an ever-changing climate. We look forward to our continued work with ASHRAE to provide new resources and help communities meet, and advance, their energy efficiency and decarbonization goals.”

A call for new committee members has been issued to develop proposed Standard 240P. Those interested in serving on the committee can find more information at ashrae.org/StandardsActions. Applications are due on Sept. 26, 2022.