This critical piece of legislation, part of Governor Healey’s overall climate agenda, is a result of years of work by Massachusetts climate advocates, legislators, and experts including the Boston Society For Architecture (BSA), who advocated tirelessly in order for this to be accomplished after the legislature failed to pass the climate bill during the formal session over the summer.

This year’s Climate Bill will be Massachusetts' third large climate bill to pass in the legislature. It is all encompassing in order to meet the State’s climate goals. The purpose of the bill is to transition the state away from the use of fossil fuels and towards a clean energy future. However, it is not getting to this goal, but how we get there. This bill intentionally incorporates ratepayer protections, community engagement, and equitable procedures in order to protect and transition the communities who need it the most first. It includes some key policies impacting Massachusetts residents and municipalities, including:

• A cumulative impact analysis to increase community engagement around renewable and clean energy projects
• A project review process for simpler and faster permitting of clean energy projects
• Energy storage increases for our electric system to run on renewable energy
• An increase in solar panels on homes and canopies
• An increase in public EV chargers
• Funding for the state’s EV incentive program, and many more forward thinking policies.

Specifically, the BSA and other key stakeholders had a hand in incorporating and advocating on behalf of one special amendment. The first amendment of the bill is the first of its kind in the nation, and addresses embodied carbon emissions. Embodied carbon, which refers to the amount of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions associated with upstream processes—extraction, production, transport, and manufacturing—of a product’s life, produces 11% of global energy related carbon emissions from buildings. This amendment creates an embodied carbon intergovernmental coordinating council - with representatives from the legislature, state agencies and the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) community - tasked to prepare an embodied carbon reduction plan detailing how to measure, monitor and reduce total embodied carbon emissions.

This is a critical and essential step to reducing the Commonwealth’s carbon emissions in an holistic manner and will help mitigate the climate crisis we currently are and will continue to face. By addressing embodied carbon emissions, the bill will improve Massachusetts residents’ health while improving the state’s economy and resiliency. By reducing embodied carbon emissions, air quality will improve and environmental degradation will be reduced, leading to healthier communities. The amendment protects and improves existing manufacturing jobs, while also creating new opportunities related to the development, maintenance, and environmental analysis. The Climate Bill will also spur innovation, forcing new design standards that will improve the quality and resiliency of the buildings we play, live, and work. For years, the BSA has helped lead the awareness of and advocated for regulations surrounding embodied carbon as a critical step toward reducing climate emissions both in our state and around the world.

In 2019, the Boston Society For Architecture hosted our first ever, Embodied Carbon in Buildings Conference, reflecting the leadership of then BSA president, Jean Carroon, FAIA. The event called for the AEC community to be leaders in finding solutions to reduce these unaddressed carbon emissions in their practices. The event also led to the development of the American Society of Architects (AIA) Embodied Carbon 101 online series and the creation of the Carbon Leadership Forum (CLF) Boston / Northeast Hub chapter, one of the BSA’s 40+ Knowledge Communities.

The BSA continued its support, advocating on behalf of and for members to address embodied carbon emissions through the 2020 Decarbonization Platform, where embodied carbon, measuring and reduction, was listed as a priority.

In 2023, then BSA President, Andrea Love FAIA, followed through on BSA’s advocacy commitment by participating in many advocacy measures regarding three major embodied carbon bills that sat within the Massachusetts Legislative Session 2023-2024, one of them being the original form of amendment 1, “An Act Incorporating Embodied Carbon into State Climate Policy”. One of these advocacy measures was speaking at the well-attended Massachusetts Climate Action Network’s legislative briefing in June 2023, “Snack & Science Fair: Taking Action on Embodied Carbon”.

As the Massachusetts state legislature began hosting hearings in 2023, the BSA supported state-level advocacy via AIA Massachusetts leadership, testifying on behalf of BSA membership. AIA Massachusetts made all three embodied carbon bills a priority in their advocacy, supporting bills at legislative hearings, through testimony and a letter to the House Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources and Senate Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.

In June of 2024, BSA and CLF, held their second conference on embodied carbon, the Northeast Embodied Carbon Summit 2024. This summit covered the great strides that have been made to address embodied carbon emissions through advocacy, research, education, outreach, and implementation - nationally and regionally since their 2019 conference.

After 5 years of dedication, education, practice, and advocacy from the experts in the AEC Community in Boston and across the state, Massachusetts has achieved first of its kind legislation, an embodied carbon amendment that will build out an expert intergovernmental council for the state. This is the first of many critical steps in addressing embodied carbon emissions and building a future that is greener and safer for all.