Demystifying Decarbonization: Data Driven Design
An interview with Josh Jacobs
In this episode, Kristof sits down with sustainability expert Josh Jacobs to demystify the ins and outs of Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Product Category Rules (PCRs) and ISO Standards that are causing a decarbonization to happen around the world.
Translating the complex data of an LCA into a standardized format, EPDs function as 'nutrition labels' for building materials, helping designers and specifiers count the 'carbon calories' of everything from steel girders to heat pumps. Josh and Kristof explore the critical shift from focusing exclusively upon operational carbon to including embodied carbon in the carbon reduction conversation, break down the cradle-to-grave phases of building materials, and offer actionable insights on using better data to make truly sustainable design decisions.
Apologies that Kristof’s mic was clipping.
Josh Jacobs
Josh has served on over 20 sustainable committees, including but not limited to USGBC’s Pilot Credit Committee and LEED Steering Committee, ASHRAE 189.1, 2012/2015/2018 NAHB National Green Building Standard, ANSI/BIFMA E3 joint committee, Fitwel Advisory Council, and he served on the original water and IEQ work group that developed the first public draft of the International Green Construction Code (IgCC).
Josh has helped numerous AHJs develop and implement sustainable purchasing policies and requirements, including but not limited to: the US General Service Administration, the US Military through the UFGS, the State of California, the city of New York, the Building Construction Authority of Singapore, and numerous universities and private businesses. Josh has also helped develop influential materials, human health, product emissions, and indoor air quality criteria in numerous global codes and rating systems, including but not limited to LEED v4 and v4.1, Fitwel, Green Globes, CALGreen, IgCC, ASHRAE 189.1, and BREEAM. He also works with organizations investor relations and sustainability teams to understand ESG financial reporting tools such as SASB, GRI, and TCF along with looking at their carbon footprint.
Links from the Episode
Organizations Mentioned:
MEP2040: An organization and steering committee focused on decarbonizing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems.
WAP Sustainability Consulting: A large life cycle assessment organization that helps manufacturers create EPDs.
SLR: A global environmental and advisory firm that owns WAP.
USGBC: The U.S. Green Building Council, associated with the LEED rating system.
ASHRAE: The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
ISO: The International Organization for Standardization.
NSF: An organization with an EPD program (distinct from the National Science Foundation - originally focused on water certification).
UL: Underwriters Laboratories, an early EPD program operator in North America.
ICC-ES: The International Code Council Evaluation Service, an EPD program operator.
ASTM: An organization that features an EPD program.
ANSI: The American National Standards Institute.
CIBSE: The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers based in the UK.
NAHB: The National Association of Home Builders.
Standards and Financial Tools
ISO 14040 / ISO 14044: International standards that provide the framework and guidelines for conducting LCAs.
ISO 14025: The standard that governs how program operators run EPD programs and dictates what should be included in an EPD.
ISO 21930: The overarching Product Category Rule (PCR) for building materials typically used in the Americas.
EN 15804: The European equivalent to ISO 21930.
ISO 20400: The standard for Sustainable Procurement.
ASHRAE 189.1: A standard for the design of high-performance green buildings.
IgCC: The International Green Construction Code.
CIBSE TM65 / North American CIBSE/ASHRAE TM65: A standard that approximates an LCA to provide directionally accurate information when a full EPD is not available.
SASB, GRI, TCFD: Sustainable financial reporting tools used by organizations and investor relations teams.
