New draft spec templates with embodied carbon - review by Aug 16th

The Minnesota CLF chapter’s Specification Subgroup (myself, Andy Marolt/Ryan Companies, Laura Eder/ESG, Java Nyamjav/MSR Design, with input from Annie Perkins/SFI) recently collaborated on a draft set of specification templates incorporating embodied carbon requirements into product performance and action submittals. This work builds on sample structural specifications published on CLF in 2018. Drafts can be accessed in the google drive. We are seeking initial review and comments by Friday, August 16th, 2024. Ultimately we plan to integrate Minnesota Buy Clean language but we can't wait until 2027 to start teaching ourselves how to integrate embodied carbon language, so here goes nothing:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QM16Wd3P5RX59zek9oOMNSfI1Pv2fKJr?usp=sharing

We have included sections from Div 1, 3-9, and 12. How are these different from other versions of this concept that we were able to find to inform this project? A few notes:

• Includes architectural and interior products.
• Each division specifies a Part 1 SUBMITTAL that includes an EPD with units relevant to that product type, and Part 2 CARBON PERFORMANCE section that references EC3.
• Some divisions are not included in EC3, so the CARBON PERFORMANCE section instructs the user to compare EPDs to inform product selection.
• Division 1 and each product division include reference to embodied carbon (Climate Health) as well as the four remaining categories of the AIA Materials Pledge and Common Materials Framework: Human Health, Ecosystem Health, Social Health, Circularity. Just a reminder that we don’t want to lose sight of progress in healthy materials and other categories as we make progress in reducing embodied carbon.
• Definitions of embodied carbon and LCA have been updated, and reference CLF North American material baseline carbon values.
• In alignment with recent best practices, within wood products we have added a requirement to show biogenic and extraction values as separate numbers for a full picture of carbon accounting.
• These are certification-agnostic.
• Specification sections are structured for the growth of Buy Clean and other carbon baseline initiatives. Minnesota has adopted Buy Clean legislation that will go into effect in 2026-2028. We will update the affected sections with new language as it becomes available.
• We are collaborative and would be happy to add language or rework in partnership with other jurisdictions.

GC colleagues, do you have suggested edits or know someone who should weigh in? We'd love some initial review by Friday, August 16th. Thanks.

Here's the CLF community post as well: https://community.carbonleadershipforum.org/t/specification-templates-with-embodied-carbon-performance/8081?u=sfischer