California Air Resources Board

I. Objective

The primary goal of this project is to develop a comprehensive set of Marginal Abatement Cost Curves (MACCs) for building materials. This will involve identifying specific abatement actions and technologies that can be applied to major building and construction material manufacturing, use, or installation processes to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Results of this project will help inform the financial implications of reducing embodied carbon, identify opportunities that manufacturers might take to lower GHG emissions, and also help identify effective material substitution choices that are likely to significantly reduce emissions associated with building materials.

II. Background

The building sector is a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with a substantial portion of emissions stemming from the production, use, or installation of building materials. Efforts to decarbonize this sector are critical in the fight against climate change. CARB has been tasked under Health and Safety Code sections 38561.3 & 38561.6 with developing a framework and strategy to reduce GHG emissions associated with building materials by 40% relative to an established baseline (not yet established) by 2035. The development of MACCs for building materials is a strategic approach to help identify cost-effective opportunities for emissions reductions. This project aligns with the broader goals of reducing embodied carbon and enhancing the sustainability of the construction industry.

Policymakers and regulatory bodies, including the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and other state agencies, are increasingly focusing on embodied carbon as a target for regulation and incentivization. The establishment of MACCs is expected to inform policy decisions by providing a clear understanding of the costs and benefits associated with various abatement strategies, and the lowest-cost opportunities that might be available for decarbonizing building materials. This project will support regulatory and other actions that will facilitate the use of lower-carbon building materials and practices.

The outcomes of this project will not only assist CARB in understanding and identifying costs of potential regulatory actions but will also help the industry gain higher visibility into different interventions they might consider for reducing GHG emissions, potentially leading to innovation in material production and construction practices. The findings will also be valuable for educational purposes, enhancing the knowledge base of professionals and stakeholders involved in sustainable construction.

III. Scope of Work

Task 1 - Material and Product Identification

In Task 1, the contractor will prepare a methodology document and will work with CARB to ensure that the methodology being outlined is adequate to ensure success of this project.  The contractor will use existing literature and conduct additional review of installed building materials if necessary to identify the set of building materials and building products that account for a significant portion of embodied carbon emissions for new buildings. Using the list of identified products, the contractor will also develop a product substitution hierarchy to map and cluster products and materials together that may partially or completely substitute for one another, and identify under what conditions product substitutions are feasible. The contractor will select a set of materials and products for a comprehensive intervention analysis (Task 2), such that the materials and products selected are responsible for at least 80 percent of attributable embodied carbon emissions in new buildings.

Task 2 - Comprehensive Literature Review and Construction Coordination for Intervention Analysis

The contractor will conduct a comprehensive literature review of manufacturing processes for the identified building materials to catalog process interventions and process changes that can result in significant reductions in emissions for the selected building products and building materials.

In addition to the literature review, the contractor will establish relationships to coordinate with and interview construction firms and developers to determine product installation costs and to understand barriers affiliated with product substitution or changes to installation practices that could significantly reduce GHG emissions associated with the selected building products. The contractor will ensure that the literature and data that are collected and reviewed in this phase of the project will be sufficient to:

• Scrutinize and classify specific manufacturing process changes and interventions to determine if each intervention will significantly reduce GHG emissions affiliated with the specific material.  
• Scrutinize and classify specific product substitution interventions to determine if those interventions will significantly reduce GHG emissions.
• Quantify the magnitude of emissions reductions that may be achieved due to each identified process intervention and product substitution.
• Assess and document the availability of relevant building materials for different regions/areas in California.
• Identify the most promising interventions to reduce GHG emissions associated with a material or product manufacture or use.
• Estimate costs affiliated with the interventions identified for the material or products.
• Identify possible product substitutions, product substitution costs, and product substitution elasticities that may achieve significant GHG emissions reductions for buildings.

Task 3 - Data Normalization and Cost Assessment

The contractor will synthesize the gathered information from the literature review and coordination with construction firms and developers and develop a normalized database to hold these results. Due to the variability across literature relevant to building material and building product manufacturing and installations, the collected data associated with the literature review will need to be normalized and tabulated in a way to allow for the creation of marginal abatement cost curves in task 4, and also to facilitate direct comparison of materials and the cost and magnitude of emissions reductions achievable with various intervention strategies.

Task 4 - Abatement Cost Curve Development

The contractor will analyze the gathered data and information to establish marginal abatement cost curves for each identified material in Task 1. Additionally, the contractor will aggregate marginal abatement cost curves to provide a comprehensive MACC detailing the total cost and abatement potential relevant to reducing embodied carbon for buildings.

These marginal abatement cost curves should provide sufficiently accurate estimates to understand the relative cost of different building material and building product emissions reduction strategies while providing a visual and analytical tool for policy development.

Task 5 - Reports and Data Dissemination

The contractor will prepare a final report that presents all results and findings, and that thoroughly details the literature review and methodologies encompassing inclusion and exclusion criteria and breadth, as well as the methodology to normalize collected data and to develop the marginal abatement cost curves.

The contractor will prepare an interim report, to be completed prior to conclusion of the literature review. The interim report will provide a summary of high-level results, conclusions affiliated with coordination with construction firms and developers, and will clearly identify data or methodological gaps. The interim report should also detail the established literature review methodology. The interim report will be presented to CARB staff to help guide further material selection or methodological refinement to address potential data gaps or deficiencies.

In addition to the final report, the contractor will include underlying data in a well-organized, accessible database. The database should include all relevant data (underlying data must be available for CARB to control and own) and references that were used to construct the marginal abatement cost curves.

During Active Contract Period

• Work with CARB staff at the beginning of the project to create a 1-page plain-language outreach deliverable for the public describing the project’s goals, process, and planned deliverables (available in multiple languages, template will be provided).
• Quarterly Progress Reports including public-facing updates to be posted to CARB’s website
• Quarterly Progress Meetings.
• Informal monthly progress update meetings with CARB contract manager (if applicable).

Prior to Contract Close

• Draft Methodology
• Final Methodology
• Draft Material Inclusion and Product Substitution Assessment
• Final Material Inclusion and Product Substitution Assessment
• Draft Interim and Gap Analysis Report
• Final Interim and Gap Analysis Report
• Completed Literature Review and Product Substitution Assessment
• Normalized Literature Review and Cost Assessment Database
• Draft Final report
• Final Report
• Finalized Database
• Presentation summarizing findings at seminar or public meeting(s) (if applicable)

​​NOTE: contractor will be responsible for ensuring their documents comply with the American with Disabilities Act.

Additional deliverables to be determined in consultation with CARB staff.

V. Timeline

It is anticipated this project will be completed in 18 months from the start date (start date is estimated to be in Early 2025). The estimated budget for this project is up to $500,000.

Scoring Criteria

1. RESPONSIVENESS TO THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OUTLINED IN THE PROPOSAL SOLICITATION (20 POINTS)

The proposal should explain—in adequate detail and clear, understandable language—how the proposed project satisfies the project objectives.  The contract should establish a set of interventions and associated costs for reducing GHG emissions associated with specific building materials and building products.    

2. WORK EXPERIENCE AND SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE (20 POINTS)

The proposal should demonstrate that the proposers have the work experience or subject matter expertise required to successfully carry out the proposed project as described. Additionally, the proposal should describe how the project will build upon previous relevant work that was funded by CARB, other regional, state, and federal agencies. The proposers should have knowledge of techno-economic modeling and econometrics, as well as material and product manufacturing processes to credibly identify interventions and suitability for reducing emissions associated with building materials and products. Expertise in construction and development to aid in identifying relevant materials for intervention analysis will be necessary.

3. EXPANDING EXPERTISE (10 POINTS)

The proposal should explain how the project team expands expertise such as by incorporating multidisciplinary expertise or perspectives, including members from various public universities, non-academic institutions, or community-based organizations, or providing opportunities to build skills and expertise for individuals from underrepresented groups. Reviewers will consider if key personnel contributing significantly to the project (i.e., a principal investigator, co-principal investigator or co-investigator, contributing 25 percent or more of their time to the project) have not worked with CARB in the past five years.   

4. EXPLANATION OF TECHNICAL OR METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH (20 POINTS)

The proposal should clearly explain the logic and feasibility of the project’s methodology, spell out the sequence and relationships of major tasks, and explain methods for performing the work. The proposal should include a clear description and plan for how each task will be completed, and how the proposer will approach collecting information that may not be readily available, and how the proposer will identify and engage with specific manufacturing firms or building design or construction entities to ensure accuracy of the analysis and of assumptions made to complete the analysis.

5. LEVEL AND QUALITY OF EFFORT AND COST EFFECTIVENESS (15 POINTS)

The proposal should describe how time and resources will be allocated and demonstrate how this allocation ensures the project’s success. Proposal reviewers will evaluate, for example: if the objectives of the project can be met given this allocation, if there is adequate supervision and oversight to ensure that the project will remain on schedule, if time and cost are appropriately divvied up across different project tasks and stages.