Embodied Carbon Calculator

Calculate whole life carbon emissions for your building project. Define materials, set lifecycle scope, and compare against international benchmarks.

EN 15978 · EN 15804 · RICS 2017

Material Assembly

Define the materials used in your building assembly. Add each material with its quantity, transport distance, and mode of delivery.

Materials

0 materials added

Project Metadata

Lifecycle Scope

Select which EN 15978 lifecycle stages to include in the assessment.

Configure inputs and calculate to see results

About Embodied Carbon Calculator

The embodied carbon calculator estimates the whole life carbon of a building per EN 15978, summing product, transport, construction, and end-of-life emissions in kgCO2e. It is used by sustainability consultants and designers to quantify embodied carbon and compare lower-carbon material options.

Add materials with quantities, transport distances, and modes, set the building type, floor area, and lifecycle scope, and the tool returns the carbon for each lifecycle stage, the total, the optional Module D credit, and the carbon intensity per square metre of gross floor area, using emission factors from ICE v3 and EPD sources.

How It Works

  1. Convert each material quantity to a mass in kg (from kg, volume, or area and thickness) and multiply by its A1-A3 emission factor.
  2. Add A4 transport as mass in tonnes times distance times the mode emission factor, and A5 as the wasted fraction of the product carbon.
  3. Add C1-C4 end-of-life carbon from the region scenario and the negative Module D recycling credit.
  4. Sum the enabled stages to a total in kgCO2e and divide by the gross floor area for the carbon intensity.

Worked Example

1000 kg of OPC concrete C30/37 (A1-A3 factor 0.103 kgCO2e/kg). A1-A3 = 1000 * 0.103 = 103 kgCO2e. A4 transport 50 km by truck (0.062 kgCO2e/tonne-km): 1 t * 50 * 0.062 = 3.1 kgCO2e. A5 wastage at 5%: 1000 * 0.05 * 0.103 = 5.15 kgCO2e. C1-C4 (sum 0.019 kgCO2e/kg) = 19 kgCO2e. Total A1-C4 = 103 + 3.1 + 5.15 + 19 = 130.25 kgCO2e.

Formulas

A1-A3 product carbon
GWP_A1A3 = sum(mass_i * EF_i)
A4 transport carbon
GWP_A4 = (mass / 1000) * distance * EF_mode
A5 construction wastage carbon
GWP_A5 = mass * (wastage_factor - 1) * EF
Module D recycling credit
GWP_D = mass * recyclingRate * -0.5 * EF
Carbon intensity
perM2 = total / GFA

Standards & References

  • EN 15978
  • EN 15804
  • RICS 2017

Frequently Asked Questions

Which lifecycle stages does the calculator cover?

It covers EN 15978 modules A1-A3 (product), A4 (transport to site), A5 (construction including wastage), C1-C4 (end of life), and Module D (recycling/recovery credit). The B in-use module is shown for completeness but not yet computed.

Where do the emission factors come from?

Material emission factors are drawn from the ICE v3 database (Inventory of Carbon and Energy) and published EPDs, with transport factors from DEFRA and wastage factors from WRAP guidance.

What is Module D?

Module D accounts for benefits beyond the system boundary, such as the avoided emissions from recycling or reuse at end of life. It is reported as a negative value (a credit) and shown separately from the A1-C4 total.

What is carbon intensity per m2?

Carbon intensity normalizes the total embodied carbon by the gross floor area, giving kgCO2e per square metre. This lets you benchmark a design against targets such as LEED, RIBA 2030, or Green Star.