Resources for Estimating Embodied Carbon

Practical Guidance for Calculating Embodied Carbon

• IStructE, “We Signed the Climate Declaration—Now What? Lessons from Counting Carbon,” July 2020.
• IStructE: “How to Calculate Embodied Carbon,” March 2022.
• IStructE: “A Brief Guide to Calculating Embodied Carbon,” July 2020.

LCA and Embodied Carbon Calculation Tools

• Tally Life Cycle Assessment (tallyLCA)

Tally is a fee-based WBLCA tool runs as a Revit plugin. It includes all life-cycle stages and Divisions 1 through 9 based on GaBi data from thinkstep.

• Athena Impact Estimator for Buildings

Athena is a free WBLCA tool. It includes built-in assemblies, and also allows users to input material quantities. It includes most structural and enclosure materials.

• One Click LCA

One Click LCA is a fee-based WBLCA tool covering all life-cycle stages and most structural and enclosure materials.

• Beacon

Beacon is a free, open-source LCA tool created by Thornton-Tomasetti. Beacon includes primarily structural materials with data sourced from EPDs.

• EnviCASE

EnviCASE is a free excel-based LCA tool created by Degenkolb. It addresses structural materials, with data sourced from EPDs. It supports early-stage embodied carbon calculation and design comparison through multi-program (ETABS, RAM, Revit, etc.) compatibility.

• Environmental Analysis Tool (EA Tool)

The EA Tool was created by Skidmore Owings & Merrill.

References

• Athena “About Whole-building LCA and Embodied Carbon,” September 2019.
• Tally Webinars
• 2013 SEAOC Conference Papers on Life-Cycle Assessment.
• Stringer, Megan and Comber, Matthew, “Differences in Embodied Carbon Assessments of Structural Systems,” 2015 SEAOC Convention Proceedings.