THE CITY OF NEW YORK OFFICE OF THE MAYOR NEW YORK

WHEREAS, the City of New York has a moral, economic, public health, and security imperative to act to protect our planet, fellow human beings, and future generations; and

WHEREAS, the reduction of pollution in the City of New York is necessary to protect the health and safety of the City’s residents; and

WHEREAS, climate action taken by cities in the United States and around the world can result in 40% of the pollution reduction needed globally to limit warming to only 1.5 degrees Celsius; and

WHEREAS, the many benefits of climate action by cities also address issues of inequality, including the expanding wealth gap, the lack of housing, the disparate access to public transit, aging infrastructure, and other major urban challenges; and

WHEREAS, the City of New York is committed to carbon neutrality by 2050 and the goals set forth in the Paris Agreement; and

WHEREAS, construction is responsible for 23% of global greenhouse gas emissions; and

WHEREAS, the embodied carbon from cement manufacturing is responsible for an estimated 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions; and

WHEREAS, the embodied carbon from iron and steel production accounts for approximately 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions; and

WHEREAS, construction equipment burning fossil fuels emits pollutants such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM 10), and endangers people’s health and surrounding environment; and

WHEREAS, construction equipment also contributes to noise pollution which affects construction workers and neighborhood residents; and

WHEREAS, Chapter 18 of the City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) Technical Manual, entitled ““Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change,” recommends reducing the carbon intensity of building materials; and

WHEREAS, the City of New York commits to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the embodied carbon of building materials and construction equipment through city agency leadership as set forth in this Order; and

WHEREAS, the City of New York has the opportunity to lead the market development and uptake of low-embodied carbon and clean construction strategies through the incorporation of these principles into our publicly-funded projects;

NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the power vested in me as Mayor of the City of New York, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this Order:

“Capital project agencies” means the department of design and construction, department of citywide administrative services, department of environmental protection, department of transportation, and department of parks and recreation.

“Embodied carbon” means the greenhouse gas emissions arising from the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of building materials.

“Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)” means a third-party-verified International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Series 14025 Type III declaration that quantifies environmental information on the life cycle of a product to enable comparisons between products fulfilling the same function.

“Green building standards” has the same meaning as such term is defined in subdivision a of section 224.1 of the charter of the city of New York.

“Life cycle assessment (LCA)” means a systematic set of procedures for compiling and examining the inputs, outputs and associated environmental impacts of a product or service system throughout its life cycle.

“Life cycle assessment report” means a report that complies with one of the following green building standard credits, or equivalent, consistent with the standard pursued by the project:

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