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Codes and standards . Federal , state , and local governments should increase investment in understanding the current landscape of energy code compliance , tools , resources , and best practice compliance methods for all building types . Additionally , continuing education and training for both current code officials and the next generation of code officials should be a priority .
Workforce . Governmental bodies should increase investment in continuing education and training for developing a nextgeneration building sector workforce that can help to address the shortage of skilled and unskilled laborers in the building trades .
Embodied carbon accounting and data transparency and disclosure . Federal agencies and the administration should ensure that all proposed action and mandates are working from a common definition of decarbonization ; this includes commonly shared , publicly available performance data to ensure shared progress and tracking . Additionally , component and material manufacturers should continue to develop environmental product declarations ( EPD ) verified by an accredited EPD Program Operator . Agencies should provide technical assistance and funding to support development of a generally accepted lifecycle approach to evaluating whole-building environmental impacts , one that balances operational GHG emissions and embodied carbon considerations . Once developed , building designers , owners , and developers should use this approach to evaluate projects , determine their embodied carbon and operational GHG emissions , and support development of baselines for common building types .
Market transformation . Federal , state , and local governments should provide continued policy support to facilitate decarbonization efforts at every stage of the building lifecycle ; this includes design and construction ( e . g . building energy codes ), operation ( e . g . benchmarking , disclosure , and performance standards ), renovation ( e . g . incentivize or subsidize energy efficiency and / or decarbonization retrofits ), and end-of-use .
Existing buildings . Federal , state , and local governments and the building industry should increase investment in understanding and overcoming the challenges to decarbonization posed by the existing building stock . A significant portion of existing buildings will continue to operate for decades , but extreme variability in the age , design , and construction of these buildings constrains the implementation and widespread applicability of technologies and approaches that can drive decarbonization .
Equitable decarbonization . Federal , State , and Local Governments should allocate dedicated funding for disadvantaged or low-income communities to support decarbonization efforts . Additionally , federal agencies should critically examine whether certain decisions in pursuit of decarbonization goals , such as facility closure , would harm disadvantaged or lowincome communities . ■
For a list of the sources used in this article , please contact the editor .
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This article was contributed by the staff from the National Institute of Building Sciences ( NIBS ). NIBS brings together labor and consumer interests , government representatives , regulatory agencies , and members of the building industry to identify and resolve problems and potential issues in the built environment . NIBS is a nonprofit , non-governmental organization .
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