What is RapidLCA?
RapidLCA is a clever tool created by Cerclos (formerly known as ‘eTool’) that helps us understand the environmental impact of a building throughout its entire life. Think of it as a life cycle report card for buildings, showing how much carbon is used every step of the way. An essential tool for minimising carbon footprint and creating homes that are kinder to the planet.
Why Does Carbon Assessment Matter?
Buildings might not look like they consume much energy, but behind the walls and roofs lies a big carbon footprint. According to the UN Environment Programme’s 2024 Global Status Report for Building and Construction, buildings are responsible for 37% of the world’s total carbon emissions.
Every year, homes and buildings around the world consume massive amounts of energy—around 30% of all global energy use comes just from running buildings. And when you add the energy used to make construction materials, that number jumps to 34%.
The good news? Designing homes with sustainability in mind, we can make a huge difference. That’s why we’ve always prioritised smart, energy-efficient designs—like using passive solar principles to cut down heating and cooling needs and installing solar panels to power our homes with renewable energy.
But energy-efficient design is just one part of the puzzle. To truly tackle climate change, we need to look at the entire life cycle of a home. That’s where tools like RapidLCA come in.
How Does Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Work?
Life Cycle Assessment (or LCA for short) is like taking a deep dive into every phase of a building’s life, asking:
1. What goes in? How much energy and materials are used?
2. What comes out? What kind of waste or emissions are generated?
3. What can we do better? Where can we make changes to reduce the environmental impact?
Using this framework, we assess every stage of a building’s life: from raw materials to manufacturing, transportation, construction, maintenance, and eventually recycling or disposal.
How We Use RapidLCA to Build Better Homes
RapidLCA generates a detailed report comparing the environmental performance of our homes to a standard “Business as Usual” design. This allows us to see exactly where carbon emissions can be reduced. For example, we might find opportunities to swap certain materials for lower-carbon alternatives or improve construction methods. By using RapidLCA, we’re able to make informed decisions and ensure every home we design is as sustainable as possible—without compromising on beauty, comfort, or functionality.
Want to Learn More?
If you’re curious about how our homes measure up, visit the project pages on our website. There, you can explore the LCA results for each of our projects and see how they’re designed with a lighter footprint in mind.
Together, we can build homes that not only meet today’s needs but also protect the planet for future generations.
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