MassCEC will award up to $380,000 of prizes for up to 12 projects that incorporate replicable, innovative, and impactful changes to reduce embodied carbon in building materials.

Prizes categories include:

• $50,000 Grand Prize Substantial Rehabilitation
• $50,000 Grand Prize New Construction
• 9 Runner-up prizes of $30,000
• $10,000 People’s Choice Award

At least 5 prizes will be reserved for Lead Applicants who have not performed Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment (WBLCA) previously.

Competition

Q: What’s on the Express interest form?
A: You can see the questions here.

Q: My project is complete and occupied.  We are still working on certification. I already have an LCA complete.  Can we apply for the award?
A: MassCEC’s intent with this program is to influence project design. That’s why the projects need to either be in construction documents OR NOT have been completed prior to June 1, 2023 to be considered for an award. Unfortunately if the project is substantially completed and able to be occupied, then it won’t qualify for an award.

Q: How does the prize money get distributed across the project team?
A:  The prize money is intended to offset the cost of doing the LCA. How the money is distributed is up to the lead applicant. Each entry is required to have a lead applicant.

Q: My project is complete and occupied.  We are still working on certifications. I already have an LCA complete.  Can we apply for the award?
A: MassCEC’s intent with this program is to influence project design.  That’s why the projects need to either be in construction documents OR NOT have been completed prior to June 1, 2023 to be considered for an award. Unfortunately, if the project is substantially completed and able to be occupied, then it won’t qualify for an award.

Q: What is a baseline model and how do I create one?
A: The baseline building must be the same as the proposed design in terms of LCA scope, size, function, orientation, location, and operating energy performance. Typically the baseline building is very similar to the proposed design, only it reflects industry typical conditions or earlier design options that were intentionally studied, and a lower carbon decision was made. There is numerous documentation on creating a baseline building in the following resources:
– LEEDv4 Guidance Reference Guide (page 505)
– ILFI’s Embodied Carbon Guidance (page 4)
– Tally Guides for LEED v4 Building Life Cycle Impact Reduction Credit (link)
– Vancouver City Draft guidance (page 10, link)

Q: How to handle reused conditions in a baseline comparison?
A: Baseline buildings generally include all existing materials as if they were new. Then, proposed designs remove A1-A3 impacts or other phases, as appropriate, for the existing elements. See additional guidance in the following resources:
– ILFI’s Embodied Carbon Guidance (page 4)
– Vancouver City Draft guidance (page 11, link)

Q: How would A5 be included in this?
A: A5 covers emissions from construction and installation. This phase is not required by the competition, but is encouraged.
– The suggested best practice would be to work with the GC to track and enter utility and fuel data from the construction site into the chosen tool, or append a custom calculation as desired.
– In the absence of contractor data, the “Whole Life Carbon Assessment for the Built Environment, RICS Professional Standard, 2nd edition” (link) sections 2 and 4 suggests a process for estimating from typical emissions more coarsely at early project stages.

Note: this phase would be required by projects pursuing ILFI, but not for projects pursuing LEED.

Q: Are there ways to input product-specific EPDs into either of the programs?
A:First of all, we suggest that benefits from PS-EPDs be accounted for only if the product has been installed (shown through a submittal), or the specifications leave little doubt that the exact product or equivalent will be installed, such as by specifying a Global Warming Potential (GWP) limit for a product that any alternatives would be vetted against.

To get directly to your question, the answer is yes there are ways to input Product Specific EPDs. OneClickLCA can accommodate requests to upload product specific data usually within a few weeks. You can also search by the EPD number or name to see if the EPD is already available in the tool. Note that the LEED US Tool within OneClick will only allow EPD uploads in TRACI format, so EPDs which only report in CML format will not be available in the tool. This is common for products manufactured outside of the US. See the next question for what to do in this situation.

Tally generally does not allow product specific EPDs. Pushing data from Tally into EC3 is the primary way to model product specific data, though the result would no longer be a WBLCA because EC3 lacks the later stages of the life cycle. However, some product changes can be approximated in Tally without using product specific EPDs, such as applying a custom concrete mix using information from a submittal. Tally is better suited to compare designs and materials, and is limited on the products side.

Q: Given different standards between USA and Europe, can you use a European EPD?
A: This can be a challenge. The key difference is that the characterization methods are different (TRACI in US v. CML internationally). While some EPDs report in both methods, many do not. If you want to include an EPD in the OneClick LEED US Tool (TRACI method) for a product, we suggest that you reach out to the manufacturer and advocate that they publish an EPD that reflects the impacts in both formats (TRACI and CML). Otherwise we suggest you provide a post processing calculation showing the Global Warming Potential (GWP) impact reduction you expect, and the reviewers could take that into consideration.

Q: How should I approach modeling concrete mixes?
A: In the baseline buildings in both tools we suggest using NRMCA typical mix designs with appropriate regional assumptions for Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs).

For proposed buildings we suggest:
– In Tally, use NRMCA mixes as a proxy to show specification requirements for a GWP limit or a higher SCM replacement target. Or, if actual submittal data is available, use the custom concrete mix function. ZGF’s tool (link) is a highly complementary way to explore concrete mix designs alongside Tally.
– In OneClick, use NRMCA mixes as a proxy to show specification requirements for a GWP limit or a higher SCM replacement target. Better yet, require Product Specific EPDs and include those product specific EPDs in the proposed design model.