FINAL REPORT (Phase 1) CURE - Code Updates for Reduction of Embodied-carbon
The Charles Pankow Foundation along with industry supporters are pleased to announce the completion of RGA 3-25, CURE - Code Updates for Reduction of Embodied Carbon. The completed report is available for download at the link below.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FINAL REPORT
- Principal Investigators are Dr. Abbie Liel, PE, Clark Endowed Faculty Fellow, University of Colorado Boulder; and Ian McFarlane, PE, SE, Senior Principal, Magnusson Klemencic Associates.
- Industry Champions are Ron Klemencic, PE, SE, Hon. AIA, Dist. M. ASCE, NAC, NAE, Chairman and CEO Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Inc.; Jerome F. Hajjar, Ph.D., P.E. CDM Smith Professor, University Distinguished Professor, Northeastern University.
- CPF Allies include American Concrete Institute (ACI), American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Magnusson Klemencic Associates Foundation (MKAF), National Council of Structural Engineering Associations (NCSEA), ClimateWorks.
- Supporters include Dr. Ross Corotis, CU Boulder; Mike Gryniuk, Cora Structural; Jim Harris, J.R. Harris & Company; Shana Kelley, KPFF Consulting Engineers; Dirk Kestner, Walter P. Moore.
Summary of Key Findings: This report describes 11 priority code changes (PCC) that could be made to building standards to reduce embodied carbon. These priority code changes include recommendations for consideration for ASCE 7 (ASCE, 2022), ACI 318 (ACI, 2025), and AISC 360 (AISC, 2022). The provision changes could reduce embodied carbon by reducing the total quantity of materials (e.g., reducing the required section sizes), reducing the carbon intensity of materials (e.g., enabling use of lower strength concrete), or both. The report details why each of these code changes is a priority, outlines and illustrates the potential change, its potential impacts on embodied carbon, and describes next steps and potential roadblocks. Some of these proposals could reduce embodied carbon of the structure by as much as 12%; even reductions on the order of 1-3% are meaningful given the quantity and scale of the building industry and its contribution to embodied carbon.