RICS Whole Life Carbon Assessment Standard Explained

In September 2023, RICS released the 2nd edition of their Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA) Standard. The aim of the WLCA standard is to steer the construction industry towards decarbonisation. The standard covers all buildings and infrastructure throughout the built environment life cycle.

Any building project stakeholder can use the WLCA standard to estimate embedded carbon and operational carbon from a project’s design, through construction, and to eventual demolition or re-use.

Who the WLCA Standard is aimed at

The WLCA standard is intended to be used by anyone involved in managing carbon emissions of building and infrastructure projects.

Architects use the WLCA standard at the design stage to estimate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a project before construction begins. Having a handle on carbon at this early stage help to kick the project off with a good carbon baseline. It avoids the expensive costs that could happen if changes are needed later in the project lifecycle.

Developers and contractors can use the WLCA standard to assess the project as changes to design are introduced. Frequent assessments and reporting during the project lifecycle means stakeholders can gauge the effect changes might have on their carbon budget. This enables informed decisions about materials and design changes, before incurring expenses.

Regular reporting on Whole Life Carbon Assessments gives investors and lenders an accurate view of a project’s carbon emissions. This is great news when it comes to extending or seeking new finance. It also shows that project leaders are serious about sustainability.

This focus on sustainable building is important for manufacturers too. Visible evidence of sustainable choices in building projects sends a clear message to manufactures that more low-carbon materials are needed. This creates a flywheel effect of builders creating demand for sustainable materials that, in turn, make buildings more sustainable.

Why the WLCA Standard is important

A Whole Life Carbon Assessment isn’t only important for capturing a snapshot of a building project’s sustainability. Its real value is in being able to identify carbon hotspots whenever the variables of a project change. This requires regular assessments and real-time tracking to put the correct data in front of stakeholders on time.

Capturing and reporting the results of Whole Life Carbon Assessments makes tools, such as Carbon Tracking software, critical for each of the projects stakeholders to fulfil their roles; architects, developers, contractors, investors.