RICS and ICE harmonise messaging on carbon assessment and management standards

Frank Hovorka MRICS, RICS Board member and Sustainability Chair
Lewis Barlow, Trustee, Carbon & Climate, Institution of Civil Engineers

Standards play an essential role in the global effort to reduce life cycle carbon emissions in the built environment. RICS’ Whole life carbon assessment (WLCA) for the built environment, global, 2nd edition and PAS 2080:2023 Carbon management in buildings and infrastructure are two such standards. Together, they provide a consistent and complementary framework to measure and manage life cycle carbon emissions across both new and existing buildings and infrastructure assets. When used together, the two standards can effectively support more consistent, data-driven decarbonisation of the built environment. They work hand in hand to reduce carbon emissions.

The RICS WLCA standard: This standard defines a consistent methodology for measuring and reporting carbon emissions from the design phase through to deconstruction, reuse or recycling. It provides a comprehensive means to assess, quantify and report embodied, operational and user carbon – a unique feature of the standard that makes it an essential tool for decarbonisation-related decision-making. This comprehensive approach ensures that no significant sources of emissions are missed and that the total carbon footprint of the asset is calculated. The second edition of the standard came into effect on 1 July 2024 and is aligned with ISO/TC 59/SC 17 Sustainability in buildings and civil engineering works and EN standards in the field of sustainability of construction work that also address emissions. It also aligns with ICMS, 3rd edition, meaning users of the standard can measure and report carbon and life cycle costs in a comprehensive and integrated manner.

The PAS 2080:2023 standard: Whereas the RICS WLCA standard sets the standard for measuring carbon, PAS 2080 specifies the process and the requirements to manage carbon across the entire building and infrastructure life cycle. PAS 2080 outlines the necessary roles and governance processes and establishes principles for leadership, decision-making, collaboration and ongoing implementation and improvement across the value chain. It applies systems thinking to the carbon management process. Project teams can track performance, manage the carbon budget and make reduction in carbon emissions a shared responsibility.

When adopted together, these two standards help the sector embed carbon measurement and management into core design, procurement, construction and post-construction workflows, making processes more streamlined. Project teams can make informed decisions about life cycle carbon management and act more consistently on those decisions.

Communication between stakeholders is improved as workflows are more aligned, and stronger accountability across project teams becomes possible.

This integrated standards-driven framework promotes decarbonisation based on data and technical assessment across the full value chain. It helps organisations communicate carbon targets to stakeholders, demonstrate competence in carbon measurement and management and keep track of regulatory and client expectations.

The two standards support global initiatives such as Buildings Breakthrough and emerging carbon labelling and certification schemes, helping promote low-carbon construction that meaningfully contributes to climate action.

RICS and ICE are committed to harmonising our messaging around the WLCA standard and PAS 2080 to help bring clarity and confidence for all stakeholders, including clients, regulators and industry professionals. By clearly articulating how these standards relate to each other, we can remove barriers to adoption and support their widespread implementation across the built environment sector. We strongly encourage industry professionals to adopt and use these two standards as part of a unified and integrated framework for decarbonisation. This will allow the industry as a whole to better work towards meeting decarbonisation targets.

On the eve of COP30, this joint message of collaboration between our two professional bodies emphasises our shared commitment to our members and the broader industry to standards alignment and joint climate action. Working together across industry enables us to more effectively move towards a built environment that is sustainable, resilient and equitable.