BFRW committee tables embodied‑carbon appendix; asks committee to draft consolidated amendment for public review

The Building Fire, Residential and WUI (BFRW) standing committee on April 11 tabled consideration of a proposed voluntary embodied‑carbon appendix (24GP118) and directed the committee to prepare a consolidated amendment for public review and public comment.

The committee’s action followed presentations from proponents and technical commenters who described three compliance pathways under the draft appendix and recommended edits to wording, thresholds and data sources. Ariel Brenner, New Buildings Institute, described the appendix as voluntary and said it provides three compliance paths: a product‑level pathway based on product and facility‑specific EPDs, a whole‑building LCA pathway with an absolute intensity cap (a draft cap of 500 kilograms CO2e per square meter was cited), and a building‑reuse pathway that would allow compliance when 45% of structure and envelope is retained. Brenner said the product pathway aggregates line‑item GWPs across the building and compares the project…