Whole Life Carbon Assessments (WLCA)

Enabling clear investment decisions.

‘By 2050, new buildings, infrastructure and renovations will have net zero embodied carbon and must be net zero operational carbon.’

- World Green Building Council

Our approach to Whole Life Carbon Analysis

Using OneClick LCA, we offer Whole Life Cycle Assessments alongside Life Cycle Costing and other related services. Our output reporting is compliant with BS EN 15978 and the ‘RICS Whole Life Carbon Assessment Professional Statement’. When conducted at feasibility or concept stage, the outputs provide a clear baseline to compare against later design stage iterations, thus enabling clear investment decisions.

Operational vs Embodied Carbon

Learn more about operational and embodied carbon, by clicking on the link. Combined, these two types of emission make up Whole Life Carbon. Within a Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA), a calculation is carried out at each stage of the building ‘Life Cycle’, to determine the quantity of carbon emitted over a 60 year period (typically). This is measured in Tonnes of CO2 equivalent (or tCO2e).

Life Cycle Stages

Generally speaking, operational emissions relate to Life Cycle stages B6 and B7. Embodied emissions are calculated at Life Cycle Stages A1-A5, B1-B5, and C1-C4. For a WLCA to be considered industry compliant, the Mandatory Requirements from the RICS Professional Standard must be followed. This means that the WLCA assessor must calculate emissions at all of these stages. We can produce WLCA’s that comply with the RICS Standard as well as the GLA pro-forma and other Local Authority requirements. Our Assessments can be adapted as necessary, to meet client-specific requirements. We can also support with optioneering and life-cycle costing, throughout design and feasibility stages

Reference Study Period (RSP)

The RSP is the period of analysis for the WLCA. Non-domestic projects must be analysed over a 60 year RSP, in order to be considered compliant with the RICS Professional Standard. Without a consistent RSP, the output data from different WLCAs would vary significantly, resulting in inaccurate industry comparison between similar asset types.

If the client is not concerned with RICS compliance, the RSP can be shorter. The RICS Standard states that “for standalone fit-out projects where the shell and core are not affected”, it may be helpful for assessments to be carried out over a shorter RSP.

Creating the Baseline

Typically, a WLCA is carried out at the start of a project, where the results can be used to positively impact the design process through ‘optioneering’. In any WLCA, it is important to define the ‘baseline’ - i.e. the model against which alternative construction and/or refurbishment strategies can be compared.

When the baseline model is determined, it is then possible to vary the construction type, materiality, heating system, maintenance plan and so on, to understand the associated implications on whole life carbon. Creating a baseline also makes it possible to benchmark against other similar projects, which is beneficial for a wide variety of reasons (including compliance with planning policy, marketing, ESG reporting, etc).

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