ASHRAE and the International Code Council seeking comments on greenhouse gas emissions evaluation standard

ASHRAE and the International Code Council announced that an advisory public review is open for a proposed joint greenhouse gas (GHG) evaluation standard.

Proposed ASHRAE/ICC Standard 240P – Evaluating Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and Carbon Emissions in Building Design, Construction and Operation is open for comment from April 21, 2023 to May 21, 2023. Drafts are posted and comments can be made at osr.ashrae.org.

The purpose of Standard 240P is to provide a methodology to quantify and document GHG emissions associated with buildings, building systems, and equipment over their life cycle.

The standard will cover the following:

• Existing buildings, new buildings, groups of buildings, or portions of buildings.
• Determination, including calculation methodology, and expression of the building(s) zero net GHG and zero net carbon dioxide emissions status for building operation.
• GHG emissions associated with flows across the site boundary and off-site credited flows.
• Embodied GHG emissions of building materials and systems.

Standard 240P will also offer procedures and minimum requirements for the quantification of embodied and operational GHG emissions including reporting and documenting.

A joint committee with wide array of expertise and representation from ASHRAE and the Code Council was approved on December 8, 2022 to develop the standard. Typically a 6-12 month process, the committee developed a draft of Standard 240P in four months.

“It is rare to have an advisory public review draft prepared for comment within essentially four months after the formation of standards committee,” said 2022-23 ASHRAE President Farooq Mehboob, Fellow Life Member. “The accelerated pace in which a draft of Standard 240P was developed speaks to the extraordinary technical knowledge and leadership of the committee and its chairs. ASHRAE remains committed to advancing effective building decarbonization strategies and were pleased to partner with the Code Council to develop this much needed resource.”

“The International Code Council is pleased to partner with ASHRAE in the development of Standard 240P and acknowledges the exceptional work of the standards committee in providing their time and expertise to this process,” said Code Council CEO, Dominic Sims, CBO. “The Code Council is devoted to expanding on the tools needed to advance decarbonization across the industry and this public review draft highlights our ongoing commitment to this work.”

The committee is seeking comments on proposed revisions to the standard’s title, purpose and scope as well as the remaining content being proposed in the document. Specific questions are included in the document for stakeholder input.