UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard: guidance on embodied carbon

New guidance developed by the Institution to assist anyone working on a building project for which there is an aspiration to track embodied carbon performance following the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard.

The Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), along with authors from Arup and WSP, have introduced a practical “how-to” guide for use on building projects looking to align with the UKNZCBS – either with the aspiration to achieve full verification, or simply as a model of best-practice assessment and reporting.

It provides diagrams, useful explanations, tips and tricks, and highlights important considerations. A step-by-step process for selecting embodied carbon limits is set out, and guidance is provided for conducting lifecycle embodied carbon assessment and best-practice carbon management during design and construction. Two worked examples are also presented, showing how lifecycle embodied carbon assessment is used to check against upfront embodied carbon limits.

NOTE: The guide covers the Pilot rev2 version of the Standard, and should therefore be treated as a Pilot Guide. It is the intention of the Institution to release an updated guide in Q1 2026, based on Version 1 of the Standard when it is released. Please send any feedback on the Pilot Guide to [email protected] so the authors can consider this ahead of updating and launching Version 1.