Council adopts updated embodied‑carbon table (Amendment 2) for CR103

The State Building Code Council voted to include Amendment 2, Revision 4 — a reformatted embodied‑carbon baseline table — in the draft CR103. Staff said the revision mainly corrected typos, adjusted units and presented edits in strikethrough and insert format for clarity.

Brooke Waldman, the Carbon Leadership Forum subject‑matter expert who attended for the record, confirmed the values in the revised table are drawn from the 2025 CLF North American material baseline report and noted that some categories (notably extruded polystyrene and certain spray polyurethane foams) declined after EPA restrictions on high‑GWP blowing agents took effect. "They are from the 2025 report," Waldman said, and explained that product‑market shifts reduced baseline values for a subset of insulation products.

Council discussion centered on feasibility of proposed reduction targets and the geographic applicability of baseline values; members asked for side‑by‑side comparisons with the earlier CR102 table. Roger Haringa moved and Vikram Sami seconded the motion to direct staff to include Amendment 2 Revision 4 in the draft CR103; the motion passed on a voice vote. Council members noted that numbers may be updated in future code cycles and discussed options to allow building officials some flexibility if justified by alternate geographic baselines or later CLF updates.