What is Zero Carbon Certification?

Story at a glance:

• Zero Carbon Certification is a green building program administered by the International Living Future Institute that honors projects for achieving net-zero carbon status.
• Projects aiming for Zero Carbon Certification must undergo a 12-month performance period to verify that they are energy-efficient, combustion-free (or in the process of phasing out combustion), and powered entirely by renewable energy.
• Climate Pledge Arena was one of the first projects in the world to achieve Zero Carbon Certification.

Minimizing the built environment’s contribution to global carbon emissions is crucial to slowing climate change and keeping Earth’s temperature well below 2℃ above pre-industrial levels—but simply improving energy efficiency or making modest reductions to a building’s operational emissions isn’t enough.

That’s why the International Living Future Institute developed the Zero Carbon Certification program—one of the only building standards designed to measure and encourage true decarbonization, requiring projects to achieve an extremely high degree of efficiency and completely phase out onsite combustion in favor of renewable energy sources.

This article we explore everything you need to know about the International Living Future Institute’s Zero Carbon Certification initiative.

What is Zero Carbon Certification?

Developed in 2018 by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), the Zero Carbon Certification is a performance-based carbon standard that encourages and supports the adoption of rigorous decarbonization efforts within the built environment. The program aims to establish a scalable pathway towards a net-zero carbon—and eventually climate-positive—building sector with the intent of reversing climate change and ensuring a livable future for all.

From a practical standpoint Zero Carbon Certification is a comprehensive third-party verified, industry-recognized standard for credibly verifying that a building’s embodied and operational carbon emissions have been effectively neutralized. It requires projects to undergo a 12-month performance period in order to show that they are energy-efficient, combustion-free (or in the process of phasing out combustion), and powered entirely by renewable energy.

The program’s latest iteration, Zero Carbon Certification 1.1, was released in April 2024. A full handbook detailing the program and its requirements in depth may be accessed here.

What is the International Living Future Institute?

Founded in 2009 by architects Jason F. McLennan and Bob Berkebile in collaboration with the Cascadia Green Building Council, the International Living Future Institute is an environmental NGO dedicated to creating a socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative society. The organization is built on the fundamental belief that reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world is crucial to reversing anthropogenic climate change and can only be achieved through collaborative, regenerative design.

In addition to Zero Carbon Certification, ILFI also administers the Living Building Challenge, Living Community Challenge, Zero Energy Certification, and Living Product Challenge. They also manage and curate the Red List—a comprehensive guide to the “worst in class” chemicals and substances known to pose a threat to human and environmental health—and oversee the Declare and Just labeling programs designed to improve material and labor transparency within the AEC sector.

Requirements for Zero Carbon Certification

For a project to be eligible for Zero Carbon Certification, it must meet the following requirements regarding its embodied and operational carbon.

Embodied Carbon

Projects in both the New Building and Building Renovation development categories must demonstrate a 20% reduction in the embodied carbon emissions associated with primary and exterior materials compared to a baseline building of comparable size, energy performance, and function; projects that fall into the Building Renovation category are allowed to include the reuse of in-situ exterior and primary materials towards the required 20%.

Projects whose scope also includes interior materials must select interior products that possess a lower than industry average carbon footprint for product categories for which embodied carbon data are readily available.

All projects must also comply with the following requirements:

• Must set a goal to achieve below the ILFI-approved embodied carbon threshold for the project’s upfront embodied carbon (encompasses life cycle stages A1 through A5).
• Must disclose and offset 100% of the embodied carbon emissions associated with life cycle stages A1 through A5 of exterior materials, primary materials, and interior materials by way of onsite carbon-sequestering materials and/or by a one-time carbon offset credit purchased through an ILFI-approved carbon offset provider.

Operational Carbon

All projects attempting to earn Zero Carbon Certification must achieve an energy efficiency target over a 12-month period—as compared to a typical existing building with equivalent climate, size, use, and occupancy—per the below requirements:

• New Building. Showcase a 20% improvement beyond the energy consumption levels required by ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2019 or later (demonstrating compliance under Appendix G) or IECC 2021 or later.
• Building Renovation and Interior. Meet energy consumption levels required by ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2019 or later (demonstrating compliance under Appendix G) or IECC 2021 or later OR obtain a 50% reduction of energy use intensity from a typical existing building of comparable type, location, and size using ILFI-approved tools.

Each project type also has unique requirements regarding onsite combustion limits:

• New Building. Combustion is not allowed in any capacity.
• Building Renovation. Combustion is allowed for HVAC systems not within the project’s scope, provided that a phase-out plan is created and renewable offsets are acquired.
• Interior. Combustion is allowed for HVAC systems not within the project’s scope; advocacy for a phase-out plan is required.

In addition to these individual requirements, all projects must generate 100% of their associated operational energy use via new onsite or offsite renewable energies, meter their energy usage, and develop a maintenance plan to monitor and reduce fugitive refrigerant emissions (from sources like air conditioning, refrigeration, and fire suppression systems).

A team member from each project must also commit to reducing embodied and operational carbon within the mechanical, engineering, and plumbing (MEP) industry. This team member is tasked with establishing and signing a company plan to reduce embodied and operational carbon on MEP systems, specifying low-GWP refrigerants during projects’ design phases, and requesting Environmental Product Declarations for all MEP products.

How to Apply for Zero Carbon Certification

Those looking to apply for Zero Carbon Certification through Living Future should familiarize themselves with the following steps.

Step 1: Registration

Any team intending to earn Zero Carbon Certification for their project must first register said project with ILFI via their online Portal. After completing the registration process, ILFI will issue a registration invoice; once the invoice is paid, the application will advance to the “Documentation Submission” stage, at which point the user will be prompted to upload those project documents required for certification.

Step 2: Project Development/Coaching Phase

Once registered projects are afforded access to ILFI technical support to help provide coaching and answer questions during various project phases. Project teams are allowed to email the program’s support inbox for general clarifications and have three one-hour video calls with the program support team at their disposal; if additional guidance is required project teams can email the support inbox for information regarding additional support services.

Step 3: Ready Audit & Ruling

After construction has finished teams must submit relevant project documentation through the ILFI Portal. Once all relevant audit documents are uploaded, the user must click “Submit for Certification” to generate a request for the Certification invoice; when the invoice is paid, ILFI will then assign an auditor to begin the Ready Audit.

On average the Ready Audit takes 55 business days to complete and includes the auditor review, clarification requests—which allow the project team to answer questions of concern or resolve any documentation issues—and final audit determination. If a clarification request is issued by the auditor, the project team has one month to respond or request an extension, two of which are allowed per audit cycle.

If the auditor determines that all requirements for the Ready Audit are met, the project will be awarded “Ready” designation; this distinction may be used by the project to show progress towards the intended Zero Carbon Certification. In the event that a project does not receive “Ready” designation, a successful appeal must be filed and approved before the final audit can commence.

After receiving Ready designation, projects must then initiate and complete the aforementioned 12-month performance period to showcase a reduction in operational carbon emissions compared to an equivalent building.

Step 4: Final Audit & Certification Ruling

Once the ready designation has been awarded and the project has completed its 12-month performance period with continuous occupancy, the Final Audit may proceed. The Final Audit cycle takes approximately 55 business days and includes the auditor review, clarification requests, and the final determination. After the auditor determines that the project team has met all requirements for the Final Audit, the project is awarded Zero Carbon Certification.

Should the project not receive certification, the project team has 15 days from receipt to submit an appeal challenging the ruling; both the Operational Energy Documentation review and Embodied Carbon Documentation review cost an additional $2,000 each.

Like all ILFI programs, no recertification is required once the initial certification is awarded; after a project achieves Zero Carbon Certification, it carries the distinction for its entire operational life cycle.

Certification Spotlight: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle

Designed by global architecture firm Populous, the Climate Pledge Arena—named after The Climate Pledge founded by Amazon and Global Optimism in 2019—is a spectator space like no other and the first arena ever to achieve Zero Carbon Certification. The arena also boasts LEED Silver certification, further showcasing its commitment toward sustainability. “We were very intentional about the ways we thought about sustainable design with Climate Pledge,” Geoff Cheong, a senior principal at Populous, previously told gb&d.

The design team was able to achieve significant embodied carbon reductions by reusing the original structure’s existing roof—constructed during the 1962 World’s Fair—instead of replacing it. “Saving the roof was the result of incredible collaboration between Populous and Thornton Tomasetti, the project structural engineer,” Cheong says.

Emissions produced during the project’s construction were also meticulously tracked so they could be countered by way of credible, nature-based offset initiatives later on. So far the arena, in partnership with Amazon, has purchased and retired 37,835 metric tons of carbon associated with its pre-operational emissions. All carbon credits were purchased through the Verra Registry Verified Carbon Standard VCU.

As per program requirements, Climate Pledge Arena is all-electric and powered exclusively by renewable energy. The arena’s onsite power grid comprises more than 1,300 solar panels and generates approximately 440,000 kWh annually. All other electricity required for operation is purchased via Renewable Energy Certificates, a large portion of which were sourced from Puget Sound Energy’s Snake River wind farm.

Climate Pledge Arena has also committed to being among the first commercial clients of Seattle City Light’s Renewable Plus Program, an initiative spearheaded by the city government to build new solar and wind farms to supply large commercial and industrial businesses with 100% renewable energy. The program is expected to be completed and online before the end of 2025.