California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE)

We have conducted a study to review and synthesize the current state of data availability for cradle-to-grave life-cycle emissions from major building technologies and electricity generation and storage technologies as specific to California as could be found. Results from 280 building technologies (120 unique) were organized across 9 categories and 27 subcategories. Many of the technologies in the list are common building materials, appliances, and process equipment used in the construction and operation of agricultural, residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. Target electricity generation technologies covered the GHG emissions from natural gas, solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and storage technologies for the California context. The search for relevant environmental impact data was in the form of Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) (if available), peer-reviewed journal articles, and publicly available reports from government and industry for each technology. In general, the “Building Materials” category in the building technologies area and “Wind Turbines” in the electricity generation and storage area have the most current and relevant data for California. However, we have identified several data gaps in our survey of the remaining categories. Due to lack of relevant data for California in building systems, there is an urgent need for policy makers and industry stakeholders to replicate policies such as AB 2446 to expand the coverage of availability of EPDs for products. Similarly, to achieve the SB 350 (Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act) goals and to support the state’s efforts to reduce GHG emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by the year 2050, we need to account for embodied emissions together with the other important life-cycle stages of renewable energy sources.