Supporting better building decisions with major updates to carbon tools

At BCIS, we continue to invest in the tools and data that support construction professionals in delivering cost and carbon assessments side by side. The ability to measure both at the same time, using familiar estimating workflows, remains one of the most efficient and consistent ways to support lower-carbon outcomes in the built environment. 

This month, our work moves forward again with major updates to both the Built Environment Carbon Database (BECD) and the BCIS Life Cycle Evaluator (LCE). As our executive director and BECD steering group chair James Fiske outlines, these updates reflect not just improved data availability, but also our commitment to make carbon measuring and reporting practical, representative and aligned with day-to-day professional needs. 

For those who aren’t familiar with BECD and BCIS Life Cycle Evaluator, can you give us a quick recap?

The Built Environment Carbon Database (BECD) is a free to use, pan-industry platform for storing, accessing and sharing carbon data linked to construction materials, components and projects. It enables consistency in how embodied carbon is recorded and compared across the industry. 

BCIS Life Cycle Evaluator (LCE) is a cost and carbon estimating tool that brings BECD data into practical use, allowing quantity surveyors and other professionals to assess the upfront, operational and whole life carbon and cost impact of construction decisions during the design and planning stages.

Why were major updates needed at this point?

When we first launched BECD in 2023, we were working with a carbon data landscape that was fragmented and inconsistent. In many cases, to link carbon values to construction activities, we had to rely on single-sample manufacturer data. That of course meant we prioritised transparency and traceability, giving users a full audit trail and encouraging feedback to help improve the data. 

Now, thanks to industry-wide progress and growing data availability, we’ve been able to strengthen both the representativeness and rigour of the datasets. 

What are the changes to BECD?

This month’s update to BECD introduces a range of improvements designed to enhance both usability and data quality.  

Most significantly, the underlying product data has undergone a major overhaul. This now includes content from the Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE) version 4, providing more robust and representative data for users across the industry. 

Further, the user interface for both the Product and Asset Libraries has been redesigned, making it easier to search, input and retrieve carbon data. A change to the way data is captured in the BECD means the platform is now fully compliant with the latest RICS Whole Life Carbon Assessment standard, while still supporting the 2017 version to ensure continuity for ongoing projects. 

A new summarised reporting mode, aligned to EN15978, has also been introduced for users who do not require detailed asset-level inputs. In addition, the data download functionality has been improved, with clearer formatting and better grouping of files by assessment type.  

And BCIS Life Cycle Evaluator (LCE)?

LCE has been updated to draw from the same improved dataset. With better carbon sampling and wider data coverage, the tool now produces more representative outputs for carbon, as well as cost. The materials cost data that form the building blocks of the tool’s components have also been refreshed to align with the latest updates to the BCIS core dataset.  

These changes are particularly valuable for professionals looking to embed carbon insight directly into design, specification and procurement decisions. 

What is next for these tools?

As a profession, we are only as good as the data we use. BECD exists to help the industry share and gain access to the carbon data it needs to drive down emissions in a consistent, auditable and cost-informed way.   

Encouragingly, BECD was referenced in a recent government-commissioned report⁽¹⁾ on the consideration of embodied carbon in new buildings, identifying barriers to standardised, high-quality carbon measuring and reporting, and suggesting how carbon data and assessments can be made more accessible and consistent.   

As a first step towards standardising carbon measuring and reporting across the built environment, we encourage quantity surveyors and other cost experts to make use of BECD and LCE in their work, contribute data where they can, advocate for standardised carbon measurement and, where possible, support its inclusion in project briefs.  

By bringing cost and carbon together at the point of decision-making, we can help ensure that sustainable choices become not just possible, but standard practice. 

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^{(1) UK Gov – Consideration of embodied carbon in new buildings – here}