Implementing Whole Life Carbon In Buildings (IWLCIB)

Carbon emissions from the built environment are a paramount factor regarding climate change and resource efficiency. The construction industry has so far mainly been focusing on emissions from the operation of buildings, disregarding any further carbon incurred over the life cycle of projects (Whole Life Carbon WLC) like carbon embodied in the building elements and emissions due to maintenance. Recent work in this field has verified the importance of WLC and has set the theoretic and methodological bases for WLC assessments.

However the application of these principles in actual carbon calculations lacks consistency with the results differing substantially between practitioners & WLC is therefore not widely adopted. The project seeks to address this by forming a team of LCA experts & property stakeholders to work out a clear and usable practical framework for WLC assessment & carbon certification of buildings. This will standardise WLC implementation across the construction industry and eliminate discrepancies. Meaningful WLC comparisons will then be enabled, competitiveness in the sustainability industry will be stimulated and carbon reductions will be encouraged.