INDICATE is a collaborative initiative supporting climate action by improving life cycle assessment (LCA) data, tools, and methodologies to help drive policy and industry progress on whole life carbon (WLC) in the built environment.
Coordinated by a consortium of leading organisations—Smith Innovation, BPIE, KU Leuven, RISE, and the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC)—INDICATE supports better decision-making for decarbonising buildings across Europe and beyond.
INDICATE brings together national governments, academia, and industry to:
As the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) emphasises WLC, INDICATE helps EU Member States prepare for and integrate WLC into legislation.
By promoting a harmonised yet flexible approach to LCA, it improves transparency and comparability, enabling countries to track progress toward decarbonising buildings.
From 2024 to 2030, INDICATE will expand its reach by building on the foundations of the Pilot and LIFE projects. The initiative will aim to increase engagement, mobilise key stakeholders, and support the development of evidence-based WLC policies worldwide.
Co-funded by the Laudes Foundation, the INDICATE Pilot addressed the lack of consistent, high-quality WLC data to support policy and industry action in Europe. The pilot focused on three countries: Spain, Ireland and the Czech Republic.
Each national team developed building-level WLC data aligned with the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement. Partnerships across academia, government, and industry ensured the relevance and usability of the results.
Spain lacked a harmonised national LCA methodology and product data. The INDICATE Pilot supported the development of WLC data for 250 buildings using real and synthetic ‘archetypes’ reflecting regional climate, seismic, and material differences, and laying the groundwork for WLC baselines and policy targets.
Read the Spanish Policy brief which was developed through INDICATE.
Partners: University of Seville, GBC España, Government of Spain (observer)
Ireland had rising private sector interest in WLC but limited national coordination. The INDICATE Pilot project accelerated Ireland’s transition toward WLC regulation by developing a national data collection template with an integrated WLC calculator, an approach later adapted by the Spanish INDICATE Pilot team. 20 WLC building cases, including two renovation projects, were assessed to validate the methodology and improve data quality.
The project’s engagement strategies attracted interest from organisations aligned with the EU Taxonomy, driving demand for building LCAs and encouraging government representatives, such as those from SEAI, to closely follow its progress, demonstrating growing public-sector support for advancing WLC assessments. The project also launched the ‘INDICATE Champions’ programme to engage practitioners and explore integrating the methodology with tools such as One Click LCA.
Explore the Life Cycle GWP Assessment Methodology developed by the Irish Green Building Council through the INDICATE project:
Partners: Construct Innovate (led by University of Galway), Irish Green Building Council, University College Dublin, supported by SEAI
Prior to the pilot, the Czech Republic saw a lack of awareness of WLC and government support was limited. The INDICATE Pilot helped advance WLC knowledge and practice in the Czech Republic by analysing 50 WLC building cases, including 10 renovation cases. These case studies provided critical insights that have begun to influence public tenders and green public procurement practices.
Partners: Czech Technical University (UCEEB), Czech Green Building Council, Chance for Buildings, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Industry and Trade
The pilot revealed common WLC patterns across countries while also highlighting national differences. Achieving an EU-wide approach requires better data availability, standardised methodologies, and consistent reporting.
Notably, around 80% of embodied carbon emissions in new buildings occur during the production stage—an urgent focus area for both policymakers and the construction sector.
Read the final Indicate Pilot report by BPIE here.
Building on the pilot’s success, INDICATE LIFE is expanding its scope from three to eight countries. Co-funded by the EU LIFE Programme, the project aims to support Member States in aligning WLC methodologies, tools and data with EU frameworks such as Level(s) and the EPBD.
Project partners: BPIE, KU Leuven, Smith, WorldGBC
The Italian pilot aims to build on existing green public procurement policies and national initiatives to develop a consistent WLC methodology and database. Planned case studies will support the creation of benchmarks and alignment with broader policy objectives.
Partners: GBC Italia, University of Bergamo, ENEA, Politecnico di Milano, Harpaceas, Politecnico di Torino
Austria plans to align with the upcoming OIB Richtlinie 7 and create a centralised WLC database to enhance data quality and support national coordination.
Partners: ÖGNI, einszueins architektur, TU Graz, ATP Sustain
Luxembourg will work to strengthen its national WLC infrastructure by developing a harmonised methodology and database to inform policymaking and support emissions reduction targets.
Partners: Ministère de l’Économie, LIST, Energie et Environnement, CDEC
The Croatian pilot will focus on setting up the foundational systems for WLC data collection and benchmarking, engaging national stakeholders to support a low-carbon transition.
Partners: GBC Croatia, University of Zagreb, EIHP
Hungary joins INDICATE LIFE as an observer country, with the aim of exploring the potential for developing national WLC methodologies and data frameworks in the future.
Partner: Hungarian Green Building Council