Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H764 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1033 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 764
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Michelle L. Ciccolo and Steven Owens
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act incorporating embodied carbon into state climate policy.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Michelle L. Ciccolo15th Middlesex1/17/2023Steven Owens29th Middlesex1/18/2023Margaret R. Scarsdale1st Middlesex2/13/2023Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire3/2/2023Joanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and Worcester3/2/2023 1 of 5
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1033 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 764
18	18	By Representatives Ciccolo of Lexington and Owens of Watertown, a petition (accompanied by
19	19	bill, House, No. 764) of Michelle L. Ciccolo, Steven Owens and others for legislation to
20	20	establish guidelines and recommendations for best practices for industry entities to measure,
21	21	track, and reduce emissions from embodied carbon of buildings. Environment and Natural
22	22	Resources.
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
26	26	(2023-2024)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act incorporating embodied carbon into state climate policy.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 SECTION 1. Chapter 21N of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the
32	32	2following section:-
33	33	3 Section 12. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the
34	34	4following meanings:
35	35	5 “Department”, the department of energy resources.
36	36	6 “Embodied carbon”, the carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide equivalent emissions
37	37	7associated with materials and construction processes throughout the whole lifecycle of a building
38	38	8or infrastructure.
39	39	9 “Environmental product declaration” or “EPD”, a Type III environmental product
40	40	10declaration, as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard 2 of 5
41	41	1121930 and the relevant product category rule for each type of concrete product or a similarly
42	42	12robust life-cycle assessment method that conforms to ISO 21930 and the relevant product
43	43	13category rule for each type of concrete product.
44	44	14 “Life-cycle assessment” or “LCA”, an assessment that is used to calculate the
45	45	15environmental primary and secondary impacts, of a product, service, or process, over the lifetime
46	46	16of that product, service, or process.
47	47	17 (b) The Massachusetts state climate chief, in consultation with the department, shall
48	48	18establish an Embodied Carbon Advisory Board. Members of the advisory board shall be
49	49	19appointed by the climate chief and shall include, but not be limited to: (i) 2 licensed professional
50	50	20engineers; (ii) 2 licensed registered architects; (iii) 2 representatives of the construction industry;
51	51	21(iv) 2 representatives of an accredited school of civil engineering; (v) 2 representatives from
52	52	22affordable housing organizations (vi) 1 representative from the Massachusetts Clean Energy
53	53	23Center; (vii) 1 representative from the Massachusetts Building Commissioners and Inspectors
54	54	24Association; (viii) 1 representative from the Board of Building Regulations and Standards and
55	55	25(ix) 1 representative each from the executive office of transportation, the executive office of
56	56	26housing and community development, the department of energy resources, the Division of
57	57	27Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, and the department of environmental protection.
58	58	28 The climate chief shall consider geographic diversity when making appointments to the
59	59	29Embodied Carbon Advisory Board.
60	60	30 (c) The Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience shall provide staffing support and
61	61	31funding to the Embodied Carbon Advisory Board, including sufficient funding for 3 of 5
62	62	32administration, research, legal assistance, public outreach, publications, a public website,
63	63	33consulting and other functions.
64	64	34 (d) The department, in consultation with the Embodied Carbon Advisory Board and the
65	65	35Massachusetts climate chief shall conduct an assessment of the current state of professional
66	66	36literacy of embodied carbon and strategies to measure, monitor, and reduce embodied carbon
67	67	37across relevant industry practitioners, including but not limited to (i) structural engineers, (ii)
68	68	38electrical engineers (iii) mechanical engineers (iv) plumbing engineers, (v) architects, (vi)
69	69	39building inspectors, and (vii) general contractors. Following the assessment, the department, in
70	70	40consultation with the Embodied Carbon Advisory Board and in collaboration with the Division
71	71	41of Professional Licensure, shall provide recommendations for best approaches, including courses
72	72	42and certifications, to advance industry literacy.
73	73	43 (e) The department, in consultation with the Embodied Carbon Advisory Board and the
74	74	44Massachusetts climate chief, shall establish guidelines and recommendations for best practices
75	75	45for industry entities to measure, track, and reduce emissions from embodied carbon of buildings.
76	76	46The Embodied Carbon Advisory Board may establish guidelines and recommendations for best
77	77	47practices for industry entities to measure, track, and reduce emissions from embodied carbon in
78	78	48infrastructure. The guidelines shall include best practices for conducting a life-cycle analysis of
79	79	49buildings and benchmarking emissions of new construction and renovation building projects as
80	80	50well as environmental product declarations for building materials.
81	81	51 (f) Notwithstanding any special or general law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the
82	82	52department shall incorporate provisions that advance the measurement and reduction of 4 of 5
83	83	53embodied carbon into the stretch energy code in appendix 115AA of the Massachusetts building
84	84	54energy code.
85	85	55 (g) The updates to the stretch code and specialized stretch energy code under section 6 of
86	86	56chapter 25A shall be developed, adopted, and incorporated as an appendix to the state building
87	87	57code on a timeline set by the Embodied Carbon Advisory Board in consultation with the
88	88	58department and in alignment with the conclusions drawn from the state of literacy assessment
89	89	59under subsection (d).
90	90	60 SECTION 2. Clause (14) of section 6 of chapter 25A of the General Laws is hereby
91	91	61amended by inserting after the words “net-zero building performance standards” the following
92	92	62words:- “, the measurement and reduction of embodied carbon”
93	93	63 SECTION 3. (a) The members of the Embodied Carbon Advisory Board shall be
94	94	64appointed no later than 6 months after the effective date of this act.
95	95	65 (b) The guidelines and recommendations relative to embodied and operational carbon
96	96	66shall be issued by the department of energy resources no later than 1 year after the formation of
97	97	67the Embodied Carbon Advisory Board.
98	98	68 (c) No later than 1 year after the formation of the Embodied Carbon Advisory Board, the
99	99	69Massachusetts state climate chief, in consultation with the Embodied Carbon Advisory Board
100	100	70and the department, shall submit a report to the clerks of the house of representatives and the
101	101	71senate detailing the best policy mechanisms to measure, monitor, and reduce embodied carbon
102	102	72across all building types in the Commonwealth. This report shall consider interactions between
103	103	73embodied carbon and operational carbon to ensure policy recommendations to reduce embodied
104	104	74carbon also contribute to the reduction of operational carbon. This report shall include the best 5 of 5
105	105	75approaches to integrate the reduction of embodied carbon into the Massachusetts state building
106	106	76code, including the stretch and specialized stretch energy code as under section 96 of chapter 143
107	107	77of the General Laws and state amendments to the International Building Code sections. This
108	108	78report shall further include best practices to incentivize and enhance the re-use of building
109	109	79materials and decrease building demolition, where beneficial.