Embodied carbon is already being counted.

Energy ratings count the carbon a building emits once it’s running. Embodied carbon is the rest: the emissions from making its materials and putting it together. As buildings get more efficient to run, it becomes a bigger share of the total.

In NSW it’s already part of approval. Since 1 October 2023, BASIX has required new homes to calculate and report their embodied emissions, with the materials chosen listed as commitments on the certificate, and new non-residential developments report theirs too. There’s no target yet, but NSW says the reporting will inform benchmarks and future targets.

Elsewhere, it’s voluntary for now. NABERS rates embodied carbon, Green Star Buildings rewards cutting upfront carbon, and in July 2026 the ABCB published a handbook on measuring, disclosing and reducing it in commercial buildings. The NCC itself has no embodied carbon requirements.

We prepare life cycle assessments to EN 15978 for homes, commercial and modular buildings, and the reporting BASIX, NABERS and Green Star ask for. Our assessments measure a design’s embodied carbon while it can still change, and show which materials and systems cut it most. To see where it sits in a typical WA home, try the carbon lab.