The regulatory body calls for mandatory measurement and reporting of whole life carbon, backed by stronger regulation
The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) is launching new guidance to build greater accuracy and clarity of Scope 3 emissions reporting in the built environment. The UKGBC is calling for mandatory measurement and reporting of whole life carbon, backed by stronger regulation.
The greenhouse gas emissions’ reporting is led by the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol which categorises emissions into Scope 1, 2 and 3. Scope 1 represents “direct” emissions that are owned or controlled by an organisation. Scope 2 emissions are “indirect”, indicating when the emissions are generated from the purchase of electricity by an organisation. Scope 3 relates to all other indirect greenhouse gas emissions that companies have no direct ownership or control over but are indirectly responsible for throughout their value chain.
Scope 3 represents a proportion of an organisation’s indirect embodied carbon emissions that can constitute up to 80-95% of its total value chain footprint. Setting out a way to coherently align embodied carbon assessments, the guidance reframes Scope 3 reporting as a singular methodology rather than siloed efforts.
The GHG Protocol sets out a standard framework and tools for measuring emissions and is the most common way for organisations to fully assess the overall carbon footprint of activity. However, without mandatory guidance, UKGBC finds that organisational-level Scope 3 reporting is typically undertaken separately to project-level embodied carbon assessments, limiting connected thinking and risking duplication of work as a result.
With UKGBC’s proposal for using embodied carbon assessments to substantiate Scope 3 reporting, organisations can take advantage of improved detail within their GHG Protocol reporting and have greater clarity on the connection between construction and building operation, and organisational emissions reduction efforts.
“As the need for holistic, comprehensive and accurate embodied carbon reporting continues to rise, it is essential not to underestimate the importance of Scope 3 emissions. Given that a substantial portion of Scope 3 emissions originates from the embodied carbon of construction projects, achieving alignment and consistency is critical. This guidance aims to enhance understanding by bridging the gap between existing best practices and providing strategies for optimising reporting clarity and transparency.”
Yetunde Abdul, Head of Climate Action at UKGBC
UKGBC guidance explores how integrating embodied carbon assessments directly within Scope 3 reporting could represent an easier, more centralised solution than typical GHG reporting practices. The report guides developers, owners, contractors, investors, lenders, and facilities managers on how to use embodied carbon assessments to report Scope 3 emissions across an asset’s lifetime.
To effectively implement approaches outlined in this report, the built environment sector would need to conduct whole life carbon assessments across the majority of projects. UKGBC is calling on the government to incorporate mandatory measurement and reporting of whole life carbon for projects with internal area exceeding 1,000 square metres or more than 10 dwellings. This must be followed by legal limits on the upfront embodied carbon emissions, with future revision and tightening.
