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This case study examines the deployment of Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) in India, focusing on a commercial-scale pilot by Lodha Developers. While technical standards and commercial production have begun, the document identifies significant bottlenecks in the value chain—specifically in concrete mix optimization, ready-mix concrete (RMC) readiness, and supply chain reliability—that hinder the transition from pilot projects to mainstream adoption.

This guide by RMI outlines how building product manufacturers in India can use Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) to ensure market access, comply with emerging regulations, and improve operational efficiency as the country moves toward a low-carbon future.

This report by RMI evaluates the potential for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and storage by integrating biomass residue building products into the construction industry. It estimates that using these materials could remove 3.6 Gt CO2 by 2050 and avert an additional 16.5 Gt CO2 in emissions. The document also discusses the role of mass timber and active forest management in stabilizing forest carbon, while outlining the policy and technical barriers to scaling these solutions.

This briefing by RMI argues that Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing rules should be updated to include low-embodied-carbon building materials and material-efficient construction practices to unlock billions of dollars in investment.

This report provides guidance on transitioning the construction industry from prescriptive concrete specifications—which dictate a specific 'recipe'—to Performance Standards and Specifications (PSS) that focus on desired properties. The author argues that PSS is essential for scaling low-carbon concrete and reducing sector emissions by 25% or more, as traditional standards are geared toward ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The document outlines stakeholder roles, suggests specific tests for workability, strength, and durability, and provides case studies from the US and international examples to demonstrate how PSS can be trialed on real-world projects.

This report by RMI analyzes opportunities to decarbonize China's building sector to achieve carbon neutrality, focusing on operational emissions, embodied carbon, new growth models, and social equity.

This guide by RMI outlines the business case for commercial real estate developers to reduce embodied carbon—the emissions from material production and construction—which accounts for an estimated 11% of global emissions. It presents nine specific investment strategies divided into building-level and corporate-level actions to mitigate transition risks, reduce development costs, and create competitive advantages.

RMI proposes four priority initiatives for state DOTs to reduce the embodied carbon of concrete via the FHWA LCTM program: integrating Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) into procurement, adjusting material specifications to increase SCM usage and blended cements, implementing Performance Engineered Mixture (PEM) demonstration projects, and validating emerging near-zero or zero-emissions concrete technologies.

The Buildings Criteria, published by the Climate Bonds Initiative on December 7, 2023, establishes the eligibility requirements for buildings and built environment projects to achieve Climate Bonds Certification. The criteria focus on climate change mitigation, providing pathways for Use-of-Proceeds instruments, Assets, Sustainability-Linked Debt (SLD), and Entities to demonstrate climate integrity through absolute or relative emissions performance improvements.

This fact sheet describes the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Assistance Program, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The program provides grants to support the development, standardization, and transparency of EPDs—tools that quantify the environmental impacts of construction materials—to facilitate the procurement of low-embodied carbon materials through initiatives like Buy Clean.

This FAQ document provides guidance on the Low Carbon Building Criteria under the Climate Bonds Standard v4.0. It details the eligibility of residential, commercial, and built environment assets for green bond certification, outlining the pathways to achieve net-zero by 2050 and the specific requirements for new buildings, including the prohibition of fossil fuels and mandatory Whole Life Carbon Assessments.

The RMI guide 'Buy Clean and Beyond' provides a framework for US state governments to achieve net-zero embodied carbon emissions in public building projects by targeting high-emitting materials like steel and cement.

This guide by RMI explains the importance of integrating embodied carbon reporting into Scope 3 climate disclosures for the real estate industry. It details the regulatory and investor pressures driving this shift, provides a framework for categorizing and calculating embodied emissions, and outlines a path toward net-zero targets.

This guide by RMI explains the role of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) as 'nutrition labels' for building materials, detailing how they report life-cycle assessment (LCA) data to track embodied carbon. It outlines the current limitations of EPD standardization and proposes a vision for 'ideal' EPDs based on rigorous Product Category Rules (PCRs) to ensure fair and competitive carbon reduction policies.

This guide from the World Resources Institute provides city officials with a framework for building decarbonization, emphasizing the distinction between Net Zero-Energy Buildings (NZEBs) and Zero-Carbon Buildings (ZCBs) and the importance of life-cycle assessments (LCAs) to address both operational and embodied emissions.

The Buildings Criteria - Background Paper provides the technical rationale and methodology for the Climate Bonds Standard's eligibility criteria for low-carbon buildings. It establishes a framework to align building investments with a 1.5-degree Celsius warming scenario by focusing on emissions intensity trajectories, the electrification of heating and cooling, and the mandatory reporting of Whole Life Carbon Assessments (WLCA) for new constructions to address embodied carbon.

This report by RMI examines the cradle-to-gate (CtG) embodied carbon emissions associated with new low-rise residential construction in the United States, highlighting the potential for significant emissions reductions using existing, cost-effective materials.

This fact sheet by RMI explains the concept of embodied carbon in building materials, detailing how it is calculated, strategies for its reduction, and the role of policy and industry in decarbonizing construction.

This report by RMI examines the role of low-embodied-carbon and carbon-storing materials in deep energy retrofits to reduce total building emissions and transform existing structures into climate assets.

This briefing by RMI outlines a demand-side strategy to decarbonize the buildings sector, which accounts for nearly 40 percent of global carbon dioxide pollution. The document advocates for a combination of full electrification, holistic energy efficiency retrofits, the reduction of embodied carbon in construction materials, and a commitment to equitable delivery for underserved communities.