Whole life carbon data
Intervention point
To effectively reduce whole life carbon emissions in the building system, targets and benchmarks need to be developed. This can only be achieved if stakeholders commit to collect, share and analyse sufficient data on emissions in all stages of a building’s life cycle.
Current situation
Whole life carbon emissions can be classified as a combination of operational emissions from the energy consumption related to heating, cooling and lighting as well as embodied, which arise from the construction, renovation and demolition process including the energy used, material extraction, manufacturing and transportation.
At 27 percent, operational carbon represents the majority of built environment emissions and has been the main focus for industry activity. However, embodied carbon still represent a significant 10 percent so is also very important to address.
The real estate industry must assess and tackle whole life carbon emissions – operational and embodied carbon – together. However, at present, evaluation and decision-making on whole life carbon is severely hampered by a lack of data.
How to get involved
Consider using Level(s) as the framework to conduct your WLCA. This is most likely to become the harmonised instrument used to compare and contrast whole life carbon data across Europe. Various private sector WLCA assessment consultants are available to assist real estate actors in this process: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/topics/circular-economy/levels_en
Contribute to the whole life carbon roadmap study carried out by Ramboll, BPIE and KU Leven for the European Commission: https://c.ramboll.com/whole-life-carbon-reduction
Support WorldGBC’s #BuildingLife campaign https://worldgbc.org/welcome-buildinglife
Use WBCSD’s Building System Carbon Framework and submit your project as a case study. Find the template here: https://www.wbcsd.org/Programs/Cities-and-Mobility/Sustainable-Cities/Transforming-the-Built-Environment/Decarbonization
Interested in finding out more? Click here to download the full technical briefing.
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Last updated: July 2023
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