Whole Life Carbon Assessment

The RICS Professional Standard for Whole Life Carbon Assessment became mandatory in July 2024. Every compliant built environment project now needs a WLCA. The teams that commission one early get to use it to shape design decisions. The teams that leave it late get a report that confirms decisions already made.

We work with architects, engineers, developers and project teams to integrate whole life carbon assessment into design and decision-making from the earliest project stages.

Why come to us?

WLCA is applied LCA. The modular framework, data requirements, system boundary decisions, and treatment of operational energy against a decarbonising grid are all LCA problems, and LCA is what we do. Below280 is the commercial LCA arm of Decerna Group, and we build our assessments in openLCA using high-quality datasets aligned with EN 15804 and EN 15978.

We also draw on Decerna’s engineering background in energy and grid systems, which matters directly for the operational modules. Getting B6 and B7 right requires genuine understanding of building systems and how they interact with a grid that is still decarbonising. That is not a standard feature of every whole life carbon assessment service.

We model your project, not a generic template. When you are comparing structural options, glazing specifications or MEP strategies, the assessment shows you the whole life carbon consequence of each choice before it becomes fixed in the design. These assessments draw directly on environmental product declarations and life cycle assessment data, which is central to what Below280 does.

What a Whole Life Carbon Assessment covers

A WLCA examines the carbon impacts of a built asset across its entire life. Most carbon reduction efforts focus on operational energy or upfront embodied carbon, but that approach can simply shift carbon into other stages rather than reduce it. A whole life carbon assessment therefore looks at everything: construction materials, maintenance cycles, component replacement, refurbishment, demolition and what happens to materials at end of life.

The RICS standard structures this around a modular framework. Module A covers materials production and construction. Modules B1 to B8 cover the in-use period, including maintenance, replacement, refurbishment, operational energy and water. Modules C1 to C4 cover end of life. Module D sits outside the main system boundary and reports potential benefits beyond it, such as material recovery and energy from waste, and must be reported separately from the main results.

Both a decarbonised and non-decarbonised scenario must be reported for certain modules. The grid will look very different in 60 years than it does today, and the carbon profile of the asset changes with it. The level of detail required also increases at each project phase, from higher-level assumptions at concept design through to full elemental breakdown at technical design and post-completion.

Whole Life Carbon Assessment consultancy services

We can support your project at any stage of design and delivery. At concept stage we establish a carbon baseline that the design team can track and optimise against as the project develops. During design we use the WLCA model to compare structural, fabric and services options against their whole life carbon consequence before those decisions are locked in. At technical design stage we work to the full granularity required by the RICS standard, aligned with your cost plan and NRM structure. At project completion we produce full documentation to RICS reporting template requirements, including both decarbonised and non-decarbonised scenarios and the mandatory uncertainty factor.

Standards and methodology

• RICS Professional Standard: Whole Life Carbon Assessment for the Built Environment, 2nd edition (effective 1 July 2024)
• EN 15978, sustainability of construction works
• EN 15804, environmental product declarations for construction products
• ISO 14040 and ISO 14044

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The earlier a whole life carbon assessment starts, the more it can influence. If you have a project at any stage of design, contact Below280 to discuss the scope and timing of your whole life carbon assessment.