About Us

We exist to help people make planet restoring decisions.

Our Story

We are the result of nearly 50 industry partners coming together to develop the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3). Formed in early 2020, Building Transparency was established as a new Washington State nonprofit to continue managing and developing the EC3 tool and provide the resources and education necessary to ensure its adoption.

Over the last few years, we have continued to maintain EC3 and tallyLCA and expanded our offerings to cover other essential gaps required to address embodied carbon’s role in climate change. Today, we continue our commitment to providing the tools, programs, resources, and education needed to inspire actions that positively impact our world.

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Tool Users

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Companies with Active Tool Users

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EPDs in Our Database

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CAN Member Organizations

Why Embodied Carbon Matters

The building and construction sector plays a vital role in eliminating carbon, as it is responsible for nearly 42% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Between now and 2030, embodied carbon will be responsible for the majority of the emissions associated with global new buildings and infrastructure, marking a significant opportunity to decarbonize building projects.

Building Transparency is helping to reduce the embodied carbon of buildings and infrastructure at scale with its free, open-access tools and EPD database. With these resources, the building industry can reduce its climate impact by comparing, specifying, and procuring lower-carbon materials and incentivizing manufacturers of high-impact materials, like concrete and steel, to decarbonize their manufacturing processes.

What We Do

Manage EC3 & tallyLCA

We host, manage, and maintain EC3 and tallyLCA and lead several programs, including the Carbon Action Networks, to foster climate change awareness and advocacy. In addition, we support integrations with EC3 and our EPD database with leading software providers to create an ecosystem of aligned solutions. 

Promote Awareness & Action

Building Transparency also provides the resources and education necessary to promote the adoption of our tools and support the global digitization and standardization of EPDs, such as openEPD and openIMPACT. We also work with global policymakers to shape a better building future.

Support Buy Clean Policy

We engage in the creation and implementation of policies that drive low-carbon construction purchasing decisions on government projects to address greenhouse gas emissions. We support the implementation of passed legislation via data and tool development and compliance support.

Access Our Tools
Explore our programs

Our Board Of Directors

Lisa Conway

Lisa Conway

Gen Phoenix

Chair

Julia Raish

Julia Raish

Amazon

Vice Chair

Steve Clem

Steve Clem

Skanska USA

Treasurer

Kate Simonen

Kate Simonen

Univ. of Washington Life Cycle Lab

Secretary

Tony Saracino

Tony Saracino

JLL

Don Davies

Don Davies

Davies-Crooks Associates

Billie Faircloth

Billie Faircloth

Cornell University

Noah Goldstein

Noah Goldstein

Google

Katie Ross

Katie Ross

Microsoft

How We Support Policy

Buy Clean policy is critical to address embodied carbon’s impact on climate change. This type of policy drives low-carbon construction purchasing decisions on government projects to address greenhouse gas emissions. Building Transparency has engaged in the creation and implementation of Buy Clean policy at the local, state, federal, and international levels through data support for the creation of policy requirements. We advise on approaches to low-carbon procurement policies and support the implementation of passed legislation via data and tool development and compliance support.
EXPLORE EMBODIED CARBON POLICY

Join Our Mission

Building Transparency is made possible through the support of our Corporate and Enterprise Partners. The continued support from global industry leaders demonstrates ongoing interest and awareness of the importance of addressing the impact of embodied carbon emissions within the built environment sector in the fight against global warming.

You can also help support our mission today and enable us to continue providing open data and tools to inspire actions that positively impact our world.

Learn More