Investment Rating - The report does not explicitly provide an investment rating for the industry Core Insights - The C-PACE programs have financed over $9 billion in building improvements, with more than $3.5 billion allocated to new construction in the past three years [13] - Embodied carbon accounts for 28% to 56% of a building's life-cycle emissions, indicating a significant opportunity for integrating embodied carbon into C-PACE financing programs to promote low-embodied-carbon design and construction practices [14] - The primer offers statutory and program guideline language to facilitate the inclusion of embodied carbon in C-PACE programs, aiming to accelerate decarbonization in the building sector [15] Summary by Sections Introduction - C-PACE programs primarily finance operational energy savings and resilience measures, with a significant opportunity to include embodied carbon [13][14] Statute Amendment - The report recommends defining Embodied Carbon Reduction Improvements broadly to minimize future legislative amendments, with specific measures detailed in program guidelines [17][18] Program Guideline Pathways - A flexible, multi-pathway approach is recommended for determining eligibility and financing terms for embodied carbon reduction measures, based on evidence-backed methods [23] Material Pathway - This pathway allows financing for low-embodied-carbon materials in both new construction and retrofits, requiring a qualifying environmental product declaration (EPD) [24][25] Whole-Building Pathway - This pathway focuses on financing measures that collectively reduce whole-building embodied carbon, measured using the embodied carbon intensity (ECI) metric [38][39] Administrative Considerations - The report identifies categories of expenses eligible for C-PACE financing, including both hard and soft costs associated with embodied carbon reduction [49] Financing Terms - Recommended financing terms for hard and soft costs are provided, aiming to streamline program administration and reduce transaction costs [51][54] Future Considerations - Future versions of the primer may explore adaptive reuse pathways, regional benchmarks, and methodologies compatible with savings-to-investment ratio requirements [60]