Fibre Reinforced Facade Encyclopedia: Properties
Embodied carbon is the greenhouse gas emitted in extracting, manufacturing, transporting, installing, maintaining and disposing of a building and its products, expressed in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (kgCO2e). It is everything except the energy the building uses once it is running, which is operational carbon. For a facade it is normally reported as kgCO2e per square metre of facade area, and for a material as kgCO2e per kilogram or per cubic metre.
On a new commercial building meeting current energy standards, embodied carbon commonly represents half or more of the whole-of-life emissions, and all of it is emitted before the building opens rather than spread over sixty years of operation.
At a glance
| Property | Typical value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Unit, product level | kgCO2e per kg or per m³ | From an EPD or a database |
| Unit, facade level | kgCO2e per m² of facade | The figure specifiers compare |
| Unit, building level | kgCO2e per m² of gross floor area | NABERS and Green Star report this way |
| Upfront carbon | Modules A1 to A3, sometimes A1 to A5 | Emitted before practical completion |
| Whole-of-life carbon | Modules A to C, over a 60 year study period | Module D reported separately, never netted off |
| Reference standard, method | EN 15978 (buildings), EN 15804 (products) | ISO 21930 and ISO 14040/14044 underneath |
| Australian rating tools | NABERS Embodied Emissions, Green Star Buildings | Green Star has an A1 to A5 upfront carbon credit |
| Cement clinker, indicative | about 0.8 to 0.9 kgCO2e per kg | Indicative published range, not product specific |
| Typical facade dead load driver | 30 to 50 kg/m² GRC against 250 to 500 kg/m² precast | Mass is the main lever on A1 to A3 |
Upfront, whole-of-life, and the module names
The modules come from EN 15978, the assessment method for buildings, and EN 15804, the rules for the product declarations feeding it. Both are used in Australia although neither is an Australian Standard, because the rating tools and EPD programmes reference them directly.
- A1 to A3, the product stage: raw material supply, transport to the factory, and manufacturing. This is the cradle-to-gate figure an EPD always reports.
- A4 and A5, the construction stage: transport to site, and installation including waste, temporary works and site energy.
- B1 to B7, the use stage: use, maintenance, repair, replacement, refurbishment, and operational energy and water.
- C1 to C4, the end-of-life stage: deconstruction, transport, waste processing and disposal.
- D, benefits and loads beyond the system boundary: the net effect of reuse, recovery and recycling after the building’s life. Module D is reported separately and never netted off the A to C total.
Upfront carbon means modules A1 to A3, or A1 to A5 where the assessment includes getting the product to site and installed. Whole-of-life carbon means A to C. The distinction matters commercially, because upfront carbon is already emitted by the time the building opens and is the part a design team can still influence when it chooses a facade.
Why facade weight drives A1 to A3
Product stage emissions scale with mass, because they attach to kilograms of cement, aluminium and glass. A system doing the same job at a fifth of the weight carries roughly a fifth of the material emissions for that element, before any argument about mixes or energy supply. This is the strongest embodied carbon argument for thin-section composites, and it should be made carefully rather than loosely. A 15 mm sprayed glass fibre reinforced concrete (GRC, GFRC) skin at 30 to 50 kg per square metre uses far less material than a 150 mm precast panel at around 360 kg per square metre doing the same enclosure job. But GRC is cement-rich, so its emissions per kilogram are higher than structural concrete’s, and the fair comparison is per square metre of facade including ribs, stud frame, anchors and substructure. Fibre reinforced polymer is lighter again at 5 to 32 kg per square metre, but its polymer matrix carries a much higher factor per kilogram than cement, so that comparison has to be run rather than assumed.
The secondary effect is often larger than the primary one. A lighter facade reduces the dead load on the structure, which reduces the frame and the foundations, and structure is typically the largest single contributor to a building’s upfront carbon. On recladding it is larger still, because a light facade can avoid strengthening the existing structure altogether. Durability works the same way in module B: a facade replaced once in the building’s life carries its A1 to A3 emissions twice. See lightweight-cladding, dead-load and design-life.
Indicative figures, and their limits
The following are indicative ranges from published life cycle inventory databases for cradle-to-gate (A1 to A3) emissions, intended only to show the order of magnitude between material families. They are not product specific, not Australian-specific, and none may be used in a project assessment in place of an EPD.
- Portland cement clinker: about 0.8 to 0.9 kgCO2e per kg (indicative)
- Structural concrete: about 0.10 to 0.16 kgCO2e per kg (indicative, mix dependent)
- Reinforcing and structural steel: about 1.5 to 2.5 kgCO2e per kg (indicative, route dependent)
- Primary aluminium: about 8 to 16 kgCO2e per kg (indicative, very sensitive to the electricity supply)
- Glass fibre: about 1.5 to 2.5 kgCO2e per kg (indicative)
- Unsaturated polyester resin: about 2.5 to 3.5 kgCO2e per kg (indicative)
- Glass fibre reinforced polymer laminate: commonly quoted in the range 5 to 9 kgCO2e per kg (indicative)
Two cautions apply. The spread within a material family is often wider than the gap between families: aluminium made on hydroelectricity and aluminium made on coal differ by a factor of three or more, and a concrete with 50 per cent supplementary cementitious material can halve the cement figure. And a per-kilogram figure tells you nothing until it is multiplied by the kilograms per square metre the system actually uses.
ShapeShift does not publish a verified embodied carbon figure for any ShapeShell product.. Where a project requires a declared figure, the route is a product-specific life cycle assessment or an EPD, not an estimate from a generic database. See epd and life-cycle-assessment.
The Australian regulatory and rating position
Embodied carbon is not currently a National Construction Code requirement. The NCC regulates operational energy efficiency through Section J of Volume One and the equivalent provisions in Volume Two; it does not limit, or require reporting of, a building’s embodied emissions. Practical pressure comes from rating tools, procurement policy and tenants, not from the Code.
NABERS introduced an Embodied Emissions rating for new buildings and major refurbishments, measuring upfront emissions against a benchmark for comparable buildings. It is a disclosure instrument, adopted mainly by institutional owners and government procurement.
Green Star Buildings, the Green Building Council of Australia’s current tool, includes an Upfront Carbon Emissions credit: a life cycle assessment of the building’s A1 to A5 emissions against a reference case, with points for demonstrated reductions and a requirement to use EPDs or equivalent verified data for major materials. The same structure appears in LEED and BREEAM. The consequence for a facade supplier is procedural rather than technical: a project chasing the credit needs verified data for the cladding, and a supplier without an EPD cannot contribute to it no matter how light the product is. See green-building-credits.
The direction of travel is toward regulation. The Australian Building Codes Board has been working on measuring and reducing embodied carbon within the NCC development programme, and the sequence elsewhere has been voluntary reporting, then mandatory reporting, then caps..
Standards and references
- EN 15978 Sustainability of construction works: assessment of environmental performance of buildings, calculation method
- EN 15804 Sustainability of construction works: core rules for the product category of construction products
- ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 Life cycle assessment, principles and requirements
- ISO 21930 Core rules for environmental product declarations of construction products and services
- NABERS Embodied Emissions rating for new buildings and major refurbishments
- Green Star Buildings, Upfront Carbon Emissions credit (Green Building Council of Australia)
- NCC 2022 Volume One Section J (operational energy; note that embodied carbon is not regulated) (check the edition adopted in your jurisdiction)
- RICS Whole life carbon assessment for the built environment (widely used method guidance)
Related terms
Questions specifiers ask
What is the difference between embodied and operational carbon?
Embodied carbon is emitted making, transporting, installing, maintaining and disposing of the building and its products. Operational carbon is emitted running it. As buildings become more energy efficient and grids decarbonise, embodied carbon becomes the larger share.
Does the NCC regulate embodied carbon?
Not at present. The NCC regulates operational energy efficiency through Section J. Australian obligations come from rating tools such as NABERS Embodied Emissions and Green Star Buildings, and from procurement policy.
Does a lighter facade always have lower embodied carbon?
Not automatically, though usually for the facade element and often more so for the structure carrying it. Emissions scale with mass, but the factor per kilogram differs sharply between cement and polymer systems, so the comparison must be made per square metre of the complete system including substructure and fixings.
Does ShapeShift publish an embodied carbon figure?
No. ShapeShift does not currently publish a verified embodied carbon figure or an EPD for ShapeShell products. Declared data requires a product-specific life cycle assessment.
Need verified environmental data for a facade package? Talk to us early about what your Green Star or NABERS pathway requires and what evidence we can provide. Discuss your project requirements
Reviewed by Richard Halvorsen, General Manager, ShapeShift Technologies. Last updated September 2026.