Project Life Cycle Assessment Requirements: ECHO Recommendations for Alignment
(October 2024)
In 2023, ECHO Project members recognized a need for alignment around a consistent approach for performing and reporting life cycle assessment results. This publication, Project Life Cycle Assessment Requirements: ECHO Recommendations for Alignment, Version 1.0, summarizes ECHO’s findings and recommendations around project LCA requirements to drive alignment in the modeling and reporting of project LCAs submitted to the commitment and certification programs included in ECHO. These recommendations leverage a review of twenty-nine commitments, certification programs, standards, policies, and benchmarking initiatives relevant to North American project LCA requirements, also summarized in the document.
ECHO organizations represent the full scope of the built environment – from buildings to parks to roads and beyond – and our publications, therefore, focus on project LCA, which encompasses whole building LCAs (WBLCA or wbLCA), sitework LCAs (covering both hardscape and softscape), and infrastructure LCAs of roadways, bridges, and other infrastructure projects.
As organizations both within and outside of ECHO continue to update their standards and programs, we stress the importance of collaborations like ECHO in moving towards harmonization and alignment across requirements, while allowing space for leaders to continue pushing the boundaries of project LCA and strategies for reducing embodied carbon in the built environment. The less time practitioners spend navigating different requirements, the more time they will have to dedicate to pushing for actual reductions.
For feedback, questions, or suggestions on this report, please reach out to Meghan Lewis.
ECHO Reporting Schema
(September 2024)
In September 2024, we announced the publication of the V1.0 ECHO Schema Fields and Descriptions (Excel) and the accompanying white paper, An Introduction to the ECHO Reporting Schema.
In 2023, ECHO project members recognized the need for a consistent approach to reporting whole project life cycle assessment (LCA) results. To address this, a dedicated working group analyzed existing frameworks, LCA standards, and database structures, leading to the creation of the ECHO Schema V1.0. This first version aligns LCA reporting fields across North American geographies and platforms, filling gaps where no alignment previously existed.
The ECHO Schema is designed to streamline data reporting, reduce inconsistencies, and support seamless data exchange across various LCA tools, platforms, and databases. By adopting a common language and structure for reporting project-level LCA results, we are taking a significant step towards more consistent and comparable LCA reporting. A JSON version of the schema with implementation guidance is in progress and will be published at a later date.
As the industry evolves, the ECHO Schema will be continuously refined and expanded, supporting ongoing efforts to benchmark and reduce the life cycle impacts of construction projects.
For feedback, questions, or suggestions on improving the schema, please reach out to Katie Poss.
The ECHO Reporting Schema V1.0 is released under the Apache License, Version 2.0. You can freely use, modify, and distribute the schema in compliance with the terms of the license. For more information, visit the Apache License 2.0 page."