Readings / Cost-effectiveness of Commercial Energy Codes

“Landscape drawing for Santa Maria della Neve on 5th August 1473” | Leonardo da Vinci

A change in the weather is sufficient to create the world and oneself anew.

—Marcel Proust, 1920

The Leonardo Academy Inc. (LEO), a non-profit, ANSI-accredited standards developer of sustainability standards to guide sustainability actions that create competitive markets for sustainable tood, services and organizations.  Two years ago a project titled “LEO 3000 Climate Accounting Standard” got caught up in our algorithm.

New Standard: LEO 3000-201x, Climate Accounting Standard (new standard)*

Human-caused activities and emissions have altered the earth’s energy balance, leading to the trapping of excess energy in the atmosphere, which in turn is disrupting the climate and causing global temperatures to rise. Current accounting methods have only accounted for a portion of the total contributors to this excess trapped energy. “Radiative Forcing” is the universal metric that can be used to describe the degree to which any given emission, natural process, or activity contributes positively or negatively to this change in the energy balance. The IPCC has begun using this metric to project future climate change scenarios. By translating IPCC methods into an accounting protocol, it will be possible to more accurately and comprehensively assess the contribution of all climate pollutants, to determine the level of Radiative Forcing reduction required to stabilize climate, and to develop a roadmap toward climate stabilization that accomplishes the goal in a timely and cost-effective manner.  Stakeholders: Climate affects everyone and everyone affects climate through their actions and choices. The stakeholders for this standard include the consumers, government representatives, environmentalists, academics, businesses, and others.

This is a climate accounting standard. This specification standard will provide a radiative forcing-based climate accounting protocol, which is an application of IPCC consensus climate science presented in the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), and used in subsequent reports, including the IPCC’s Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5°C. This protocol is intended to specify the methods for calculating climate footprints which include all known contributors to net positive radiative forcing, for determining the scale of radiative forcing reduction needed to stabilize climate, and for identify and supporting projects aimed at stabilizing the global climate system significantly below +1.5°C by 2030 and in decades to come. It will also specify the requirements for validation and verification of claims. Finally, it will describe potential funding mechanisms to achieve stabilization goals most cost effectively, including direct investments in eligible Radiative Forcing reduction projects and infrastructure, governmental and market incentives, and public mitigation exchange platforms.

We have heard nothing of this project since; though it is typical for standards development to run 3 to 5 years.  Neither has the circumstances of the pandemic made work any easier for the ANSI accredited standards developmes we track.

We are now reaching out to determine what can be known about the fate of this title; noteworthy for its ambition.  Other LEO titles are in the works, however; listed in the link below:

Sustainability Standards Program

Most of these titles fall into a cross-disciplinary niche we identify as “Global Warming Engineering” and fall into topical categories we drill into every day.

We are happy to discuss sustainability standards generally during any of our periodic Sustineri colloquia.  See CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

Issue: [19-131]

Category: Electrical, Energy, Mechanical

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben, Larry Spielvogel

LEARN MORE:

* ANSI Standards Action Announcement / Page 14