Paying for Clean Building Materials with C-PACE

C-PACE programs have provided $9 billion in financing for energy efficiency in 25 US states and cities, but most were established before embodied carbon data was available. The briefing proposes that C-PACE administrators update guidelines to classify low-embodied-carbon materials as "energy improvements," utilizing tools like Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and Whole Building Life Cycle Assessments. To incentivize this shift, the author suggests increasing financing limits for projects that demonstrate embodied carbon reduction. RMI is facilitating a working group through 2025 to develop nationwide best practices for integrating embodied carbon into C-PACE guidelines.

• C-PACE loan programs have already provided over $9 billion in low-cost financing for energy efficiency, electrification, and resilience upgrades across 25 US states and cities.
• The document proposes that procuring low-embodied-carbon materials and reducing material use be classified as "energy improvements" within C-PACE programs, as embodied carbon serves as a proxy for embodied energy.
• C-PACE administrators can update guidelines to reward two specific types of embodied carbon reduction: procuring materials with global warming potentials below regional targets and demonstrating whole-building embodied carbon reduction via Life Cycle Assessments.
• Increasing the total amount of financing available for eligible measures—for example, raising limits from 25 to 30 percent—can serve as a strong incentive for developers to adopt clean materials and material-efficient design.

APA

RMI (2025). Paying for Clean Building Materials with C-PACE. https://rmi.org/resources/paying-for-clean-building-materials-with-c-pace/

Chicago

RMI. Paying for Clean Building Materials with C-PACE. 2025. https://rmi.org/resources/paying-for-clean-building-materials-with-c-pace/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Paying for Clean Building Materials with C-PACE |date=25 February 2025 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/paying-for-clean-building-materials-with-c-pace/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2025paying, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Paying for Clean Building Materials with C-PACE}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2025}, month = feb, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/paying-for-clean-building-materials-with-c-pace/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }