Whole Life Carbon Framework

This updated framework is a set of principles and actions to guide the minimisation of whole life carbon (WLC) and manage residual emissions across a building’s life cycle.
Climate Change Mitigation Advancing Net Zero Technical Report

In 2025, the IPCC reaffirmed that limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires deep and sustained reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. Achieving this remains fundamental to avoiding the most severe impacts of climate change, but delivering this scale of transformation demands coordinated action across government, industry and society, supported by credible pathways for deep emission reductions. The built environment sector plays a central role in this transition, with the need to address both operational and embodied carbon, across all asset types and life cycle stages now well established.

The UKGBC published the original Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework Definition in 2019. This provided industry with clarity on the high-level definition and delivery of net zero carbon buildings, while recognising the need for continued evolution as data, methodologies, and industry capability developed.

This updated framework provides a set of principles and actions to guide the optimisation of whole life carbon (WLC) and manage residual emissions across a building’s life cycle. Its aim is to support consistent, low-carbon decision-making from early design through operation and end-of-life (EOL), and to guide projects in accordance with best practice standards.

Download the Framework here

Whole Life Carbon Framework

The framework provides:

Four overarching principles

to apply throughout the life cycle: act today and stay adaptable, set objectives and targets, ensure accountability and measure, verify and disclose.

Four delivery principles

with supporting sub-principles, defining what is required to minimise WLC and why it matters.

Life-cycle stage actions

translating the principles into practical prompts from early strategy through in-use and end-of-life.

This framework should be used to:

Inform early-stage design and organisational strategy
Embed a reduction-first approach
Set ambition and roles by establishing WLC objectives
Apply the principles
Select appropriate lifecycle actions
Ensure consistent, transparent measurement and disclosure

Advancing Net Zero Partners

Our Advancing Net Zero work is made possible thanks to our programme partners

Whole Life Carbon Framework Project Partners

Thank you to our Project Partners for their continued support

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Advancing Net Zero

Created in 2018 as part of a World Green Building Council former global Advancing Net Zero programme, UKGBC’s Advancing Net Zero programme has a mission to lead the UK’s transition to a net zero built environment. It has produced leading guidance such as the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework and the Net Zero Whole Life Carbon Roadmap, whilst working with organisations and experts across the industry.
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Climate Change Mitigation

We are in a decisive decade for climate action and with a decreasing number of years left to achieve 2030 climate targets, radical and rapid transformation from businesses and the global economy is essential.
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