The Future Homes Carbon Assessment Tool estimates embodied and whole life carbon in a way that is consistent, quick, low cost and straightforward enough to drive significant uptake across the new homes sector.
It enables carbon impacts to be calculated for different design options for individual dwellings, apartment blocks (up to 4 storeys) or development site preparation and infrastructure works. The tool includes pre-defined example build-ups to inform early-stage decision-making, whilst bespoke materials (EPDs) and buildups can be defined by the user to more accurately reflect detailed designs and ‘as built’ dwellings and sites.
About the tool
The Future Homes Carbon Assessment Tool is aimed at developers, architects and designers. It provides a simple to use, accessible, free-of-charge way for homebuilders to calculate embodied and whole life carbon – and quickly see the potential impact of different design options, construction systems or specification choices, particularly at early design stages.
User-Defined Material and Buildup Entry
During the later phases of a project, when specific products are decided, product-specific carbon impact data (e.g. EPDs) should be referenced where available. User defined buildups, including specific products where known, can be entered into the tool using our Excel spreadsheet template.
User guide and further information
The tool is based on the Whole Life Carbon Conventions for New Homes. Click here to download the WLC Conventions and access further guidance, including:
- Pre-calculators for regulated and unregulated energy to help with processing and entering data into the tool
- Default Materials and Assumptions dataset
- More detail on how component benchmarks have been derived
Technical support
If you have any issues using the tool, please contact our technical team for support – email us.
Disclaimer
The Future Homes Carbon Assessment Tool is provided ‘as is’, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to any warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. In no event shall the authors or copyright holders be liable for any claim, damages or other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise, arising from, out of or in connection with the tool or the use or other dealings in the tool.
Embodied carbon results are intended to provide a ‘guide’ for comparison purposes and should not be taken as a definitive value for the project.
The Future Homes Carbon Assessment Tool relies on users inputting project information, including high-level building geometry inputs and selecting pre-defined build-ups for one or more elements. Pre-defined build-ups and associated material quantities within the tool are based on typical indicative build-ups and may not reflect the exact constructions and quantities used in your project.
Users should therefore carefully consider and take responsibility for how they apply the tool. Click here to find out more about the Future Homes Hub’s work on embodied and whole life carbon.
Click here to find out more about the Future Homes Hub’s work on embodied and whole life carbon.