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The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has launched the second edition of its Whole Life Carbon Assessment for the Built Environment (WLCA) standard.
First published in 2017 for the UK’s built environment sector, this 2023 edition is a global version, providing a more developed understanding of the carbon costs and benefits of design choices in construction and infrastructure projects and assets. The new standard was produced in partnership with the UK’s Department for Transport and Net Zero Waste Scotland.
Following a public consultation in March 2023, which received over 1,300 responses, RICS has now updated the standard to be used globally and to cover all built assets and infrastructure projects throughout the built environment lifecycle.
RICS will be promoting the new standard at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, where the organisation is an accredited partner.
RICS Chief Executive, Justin Young, said:
The second edition of Whole Life Carbon Assessment for the Built Environment encapsulates RICS’s role as a global leader in the built environment and its duty to steer the industry towards decarbonisation.
This second edition is a truly global standard for a global problem. I want to thank our members from every world region, our staff, partner specialists and the Department for Transport and Net Zero Waste Scotland for their hard work and crucial support, which made this a reality.
At this year’s COP28, where RICS is a UN-accredited observer organisation, we will promote this standard and ensure it is at the heart of the built environment’s crucial response to climate change.
RICS Director of Surveying Standards, Charlotte Neal, said:
The built environment has been crying out for tools to measure its impact on climate change, which is crucial for developing mitigating practices to significantly reduce the industry’s carbon output.
By providing a consistent methodology to assess the carbon output of buildings throughout their entire lifecycle, the second edition of WLCA will significantly improve the industry’s ability to measure and manage its impact on climate. Thank you to RICS’ members, staff and partners for your unceasing support of our work in leading the built environment towards a sustainable, net-zero future.
