INTENT
The intent of this Imperative is to minimize energy-related carbon emissions that contribute to climate change and risks to human health.
REQUIREMENTS
Embodied Carbon
New Building and Building Renovation projects must demonstrate a 20% reduction in the embodied carbon of primary materials and exterior materials compared to a baseline building of equivalent size, function, and energy performance. Building Renovation projects may count the reuse of in-situ primary and exterior materials against the required 20%.
All projects with interior materials in scope must select interior products with a lower than industry average carbon footprint for product categories for which embodied carbon data are readily available.
Operational Carbon
All projects must achieve an energy efficiency target over a 12-month period (after accounting for on-site renewable energy generation), as compared to a typical existing building with comparable climate, size, use, and occupancy, and combustion must be limited as follows:
- New Building: 20% improvement beyond the energy consumption levels required by ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2019 or later (demonstrating compliance under Appendix G) or IECC 2021 or later
- Building Renovation and Interior: Meet the energy consumption levels required by ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2019 or later (demonstrating compliance under Appendix G) or IECC 2021 or later, OR achieve a 50% reduction of energy use intensity (EUI) from a typical existing building of an equivalent type, size, and location using ILFI-approved tools
- Combustion Limits:
- New Building: Not allowed.
- Building Renovation: Allowed for HVAC systems that are not in project scope. Phase-out plan and renewables offset are required.
- Interior: Allowed for HVAC systems that are not in project scope. Advocacy for a phase-out plan is required.
- Renewables must be on site to count toward the efficiencies above.
All projects must meter energy used by the project.
All projects must be designed to be “zero ready” through strategies such as designating area(s) and/or pre-installing wiring and connections for both electric vehicle charging and future installation of renewable energy systems.
All projects must have a maintenance plan in place to monitor and reduce fugitive refrigerant emissions (from sources such as refrigeration, air conditioning, and fire suppression systems). A member of the team must commit to reducing embodied and operational carbon within the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) industry. The team member must establish and sign a company plan to reduce operational and embodied carbon on MEP systems, request low-GWP refrigerants during projects’ design phases, and request Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for MEP products. Signatories of the MEP 2040 Commitment comply with this requirement.
