A Primer on Embodied Carbon in Climate Disclosure

The document argues that the real estate industry must move beyond operational energy reporting to include embodied carbon in Scope 3 climate disclosures. It highlights increasing pressure from major investors like BlackRock and CalPERS, as well as potential SEC regulations, to standardize these disclosures. The guide recommends transitioning from spend-based to mass-based emissions accounting using Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and life-cycle assessments (LCA) to accurately track up-front emissions from building materials.

• Embodied carbon represents a significant portion of a building's climate impact, potentially accounting for up to 50% of the total carbon footprint over its life cycle, a figure that increases for zero-energy or energy-efficient buildings.
• There is growing pressure on the real estate sector for Scope 3 transparency from major institutional investors and regulatory bodies. Asset managers such as BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors, and the pension fund CalPERS, are requesting Scope 3 disclosures, while the SEC is working to standardize climate-related disclosures for publicly traded companies.
• The document advocates for a shift in accounting methodology from spend-based methods, which are viewed as inaccurate proxies, to mass-based emissions calculations. This approach utilizes material quantities combined with data from environmental product declarations (EPDs) or life-cycle inventory (LCI) databases.
• For accurate up-front emissions tracking, the guide recommends focusing on life-cycle phases A1–A3 (extraction through manufacturing) and prioritizing facility- or product-specific EPDs for high-volume materials like steel, concrete, insulation, asphalt, and processed glass.

APA

RMI (2023). A Primer on Embodied Carbon in Climate Disclosure. https://rmi.org/resources/a-primer-on-embodied-carbon-in-climate-disclosure/

Chicago

RMI. A Primer on Embodied Carbon in Climate Disclosure. 2023. https://rmi.org/resources/a-primer-on-embodied-carbon-in-climate-disclosure/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=A Primer on Embodied Carbon in Climate Disclosure |date=5 October 2023 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/a-primer-on-embodied-carbon-in-climate-disclosure/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2023primer, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{A Primer on Embodied Carbon in Climate Disclosure}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2023}, month = oct, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/a-primer-on-embodied-carbon-in-climate-disclosure/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }