WHY INDICATE LIFE
The built environment is responsible for approximately 40% of all global carbon emissions. In order to align with the 1.5°C Paris Agreement goals and reach climate neutrality by 2050, Europe must act now in reducing whole life carbon (WLC) emissions across Europe’s built environment. Addressing the WLC emissions includes tackling both operational and embodied carbon.
INDICATE LIFE aims to address one of the biggest challenges in reducing these emissions by improving the life cycle assessment (LCA) data quality and availability of buildings within Europe. Lack of building LCA data is widely understood to be a key obstacle in achieving industry and policy action on WLC.
WHAT IS INDICATE LIFE
National partnerships between industry stakeholders, policymakers, data providers and academia will ensure guidance and technical support is given where necessary for all stages of the project's duration by relevant experts. This collaborative approach will support the five member states in achieving the following objectives:
Developing national tools and assessment methods for WLC calculations which align with upcoming EU directives, such as the updated Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD)
Driving data collection and analysis to create national benchmark WLC values for new developments and retrofits
Carrying out an assessment of the cost-benefits LCA to support policy-level action
Enabling EU and National level WLC recommendations through national market and policy comparisons; requiring transparency in reporting
Following the success of the “INDICATE WLC policy accelerator” project (also known as INDICATE), which supported Spain, Ireland and the Czech Republic in collecting and generating representative LCA data to be used in national WLC regulations, INDICATE LIFE will extend the approach to another five EU member states: Italy, Austria, Croatia, Luxembourg and Hungary. INDICATE LIFE will build on the proven successful methods and utilise the learnings from the front-running countries with established WLC databases developed through INDICATE.
INDICATE LIFE is providing both financial and technical support in improving national LCA data and policy change.
Smith, WorldGBC, KU Leuven and BPIE will be providing support in developing guidance materials, technical support and centralised analysis. This will support the development of INDICATE LIFE’s WLC assessment methods and data generation by requiring recognition from key national experts to ensure it is optimised for new construction projects.
Following this, national consortia will implement the INDICATE LIFE methodology influenced by INDICATE, receiving guidance from the coordinating partners where necessary. With support from partners, costs and benefits of implementing WLC regulations can be established through examples from frontrunning countries with aims to influence national policies.
PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES
Following INDICATE’s three pilot countries, INDICATE LIFE is supporting an additional five EU countries in increasing the quality, quantity and application of building-level LCA data, in order to regulate and reduce the WLC footprint of buildings.
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Our current situation:
The Italian context is characterised by various initiatives to target WLC building assessment. At the legislative level, Green Public Procurement requires mandatory LCA for public buildings and defines reward WLC/LCA-based criteria in tenders. As a key strategy, the “Italian roadmap to achieve the 2050 climate goals” has been developed by GBC Italia, setting out actions for the building value chain’s actors and proposing a WLC methodology for new and existing buildings (not yet adopted into policies). Concerning data, the Italian LCA database “Arcadia” is in progress, making available LCA data, representative of the national supply chain. Italy needs a harmonised national methodology and database to make WLC results comparable and define building reference value, increasing stakeholders awareness.
INDICATE LIFE will help us with:
The INDICATE LIFE project will drive WLC data and building-level LCA adoption in Italy, to align industry and policy actions towards decarbonisation. At the core is the creation of national WLC benchmarks, specific for residential and non-residential buildings, and a shared methodology, in joint compliance with both EU standards (Level(s) and EPBD) and the Italian regulatory framework (Green Public Procurement). To achieve this, a representative sample of building LCA case studies across regions will be analysed. The project co-creation approach ensures that stakeholders not only contribute to but also act upon the data and outcomes, prompting change in practice.
Our consortium partners:
Green Building Council Italia, University of Bergamo, ENEA, Politecnico Di Milano, Harpaceas, Politecnico Di Torino
For more information on the Italian INDICATE LIFE project, please contact Valentina Marino via email: valentina.marino@gbcitalia.org
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Our current situation:
Austria is advancing its Whole-Life Carbon (WLC) efforts, focusing on European alignment, improved data availability, and overcoming barriers. WLC data relies on EN 15978 standards but faces challenges in harmonising datasets, limited generic data, and high costs. The OIB Richtlinie 7, to be implemented by 2027, sets standards for lifecycle emissions, material documentation, waste management, and adaptability, incorporating databases and accurate lifecycle analysis. Contributions from TU Graz, ATP sustain, einszueins architektur, and ÖGNI support WLC progress through innovative methodologies, sustainable design applications, and global collaboration, enhancing Austria's role in sustainable construction practices.
INDICATE LIFE will help us with:
The INDICATE LIFE supports Austria by standardising WLC methodologies to be aligned with European standards such as Level(s) and the EPBD and developing a centralised LCA emissions database which will improve accessibility and consistency for national stakeholders. Additionally, this will provide baseline data for policy benchmarks. It fosters collaboration among stakeholders and aligns Austria’s construction sector with EU decarbonisation goals.
Our consortium partners:
Austrian Sustainable Building Council, Einszueins Architektur, Tu Graz, ATP Sustain
For more information on the Austrian INDICATE LIFE project, please contact Anna-vera Deinhammer via email: anna-vera.deinhammer@ogni.at
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Our current situation:
In Luxembourg, there is a public certification specifically for housing (LENOZ) that includes Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) criteria and aims to promote sustainable building practices. The LENOZ certification is voluntary and encouraged through subsidies. In addition, there are private certifications which incorporate LCA in their frameworks. Despite these initiatives, Luxembourg does not have a national database of Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). The absence of a national EPD database poses a challenge for harmonising LCA practices across the national construction sector. Further, Luxembourg’s reliance on imported materials introduces a high degree of data heterogeneity requiring harmonisation to ensure consistency and comparability in LCA assessments.
INDICATE LIFE will help us with:
The national INDICATE LIFE project aims to build a harmonised database of Whole Life Cycle (WLC) assessments of buildings in Luxembourg. This will help identify emission hotspots and effectively guide policy towards decarbonisation across the value chain. INDICATE LIFE is a crucial component of the national roadmap, accelerating the national data collection effort. The project will provide the infrastructure to collect case studies, develop a national WLC methodology, perform harmonised WLC calculations, analyse the results, and deliver valuable insights for policy action. An important stakeholder in this process is the Conseil national pour la construction durable (CNCD, the national Green Building Council), which brings together representatives from the entire value chain and guides the effort.
Our consortium partners:
Ministere De L’economie, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Energie et Environnement, CDEC
For more information on the Luxembourgish INDICATE LIFE project, please contact Paul Baustert via email: paul.baustert@eco.etat.lu
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Our current situation:
Croatia is in the early stages of developing comprehensive Whole Life Carbon (WLC) data systems. Availability of LCA and WLC data is limited and scattered across institutions or reliant on international databases. There is no unified national database tailored to Croatia’s construction sector, making consistent, locally relevant data hard to access. Currently, Croatia lacks a standardised national methodology for WLC calculations. Stakeholders often rely on international tools and practices that may not fully account for the local context, such as specific materials, construction techniques, or regional environmental impacts, limiting accurate assessments and benchmarks for sustainable construction practices.
INDICATE LIFE will help us with:
The national INDICATE LIFE implementation is a game-changer for Croatia’s journey toward sustainable construction. By bringing together key actors, we’re building a foundation for advanced LCA data. We’ll evaluate Croatia’s current tools, compare them to global best practices, and identify ways to improve accuracy and impact. This aims to result in reliable benchmarks, cutting-edge solutions, and actionable insights to drive sustainability in the construction sector. LCA findings will shape building codes, inspire policies, and empower professionals. Through public engagement, awareness campaigns, and collaboration, this project aligns Croatia's construction sector with EU sustainability goals and supports its transition to a low-carbon economy.
Our consortium partners:
Green Building Council Croatia, University of Zagreb Faculty of Civil Engineering, EIHP
For more information on the Croatian INDICATE LIFE project, please contact Franciska Erdelj via email: franciska.erdelj@gbccroatia.org
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Hungary are taking on an observer role, with lighter involvement during INDICATE LIFE. More details on their current situation and how INDICATE LIFE will help them will be available shortly.
Our consortium partners:
Hungarian Green Building Council
WHO IS BEHIND INDICATE LIFE
INDICATE LIFE is co-ordinated by Smith Innovation, supported by BPIE, KU Leuven and WorldGBC as project partners providing technical and political support. It is co-funded by the European Union LIFE programme. Learn more about the co-ordination team below:
There are an additional 18 consortium partners, implementing the projects at a national level.
Click the icons below to learn more about them:
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Assist philanthropic foundations, local governments as well as companies and organizations in the building industry to take a leading role in the transition towards a sustainable future. Therefore, Smith is an interdisciplinary team rooted in a mix of disciplines, including economics, engineering, natural and social science. We believe that a structured, yet open-ended approach to systemic challenges is the key to success regardless of whether we facilitate firms to develop new services or provide recommendations for governmental institutions and philanthropic foundations.
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The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) is the largest and most influential localregional- global action network, leading the transformation to sustainable and decarbonised built environments for everyone, everywhere.
Together, with 75+ Green Building Councils and industry partners from all around the world, we are driving systemic changes to:
Address whole life carbon emissions of existing and new buildings
Enable resilient, healthy, equitable and inclusive places
Secure regenerative, resource efficient and waste-free infrastructure
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The research group Architectural Engineering at KU Leuven tackle innovation in the design of buildings by approaching architecture from an engineering point of view. The group conducts cutting-edge research on technical aspects of architecture, considering structure, materials, services, and comfort requirements in a multidisciplinary setting in order to quantify, assess, and improve the quality, cost, and sustainability of the built environment.
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BPIE (Buildings Performance Institute Europe) is a leading independent centre of expertise on energy performance of buildings, providing data-driven and actionable policy analysis, advice, and implementation support to decision-makers in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Founded in 2010, BPIE combines expertise on energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies, and health and indoor environment with a deep understanding of EU policies and processes. A not-for-profit think-tank based in Brussels and Berlin, our mission is to make an affordable, climate-neutral built environment a reality in Europe and globally.
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The INDICATE LIFE project is co-funded by the LIFE programme under grant agreement No. 101167585. The LIFE programme is the EUs funding instrument dedicated to environmental, climate and energy objectives founded in 2021 and running until 2027. The programme aims to develop, demonstrate and promote innovative techniques, methods and approaches in order to meet the EU’s environmental and climate goals. There are four sub-programmes: Nature and biodiversity, circular economy and quality of life, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the clean energy transition. INDICATE LIFE complies with the clean energy transition programme
ACT NOW!
Everyone can contribute to improving the availability of data!
Suppliers and manufacturers can ensure they provide Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for all their products, and developers and designers can request EPDs for all products and ensure WLC assessments are performed and published for all their projects. The public sector and political leaders can support by committing to enact WLC policy and engaging with stakeholders to find the best data and start to develop baselines.
Find out more
Please reach out to us if you want to learn more about how to support the initiative or are interested in the outcomes.
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