EC3 2.0: Modernizing Open Infrastructure for Embodied Carbon

Why EC3 2.0, and Why Now

Embodied carbon accounting has shifted from voluntary leadership practice to regulatory and market infrastructure. Buy Clean procurement programs, Scope 3 reporting requirements, building codes, and Digital Product Passport initiatives are embedding product-level environmental data into compliance systems around the world.

EC3 enters this next chapter from a position of real strength. Our database now holds more than 200,000 verified EPDs from over 2,000 manufacturers across 85 countries — the largest open-access embodied carbon dataset in the world. In the past 6 months, we’ve added around 4500 EPDs, expanded coverage across European markets, and deepened integrations with Tally and Autodesk Construction Cloud, supporting procurement policy implementation, Scope 3 accounting, material benchmarking, and publicly accessible research datasets.

But EC3 was built for an earlier era of voluntary market transformation. As embodied carbon requirements become mandatory, the platform needs to evolve — to meet the scale, reliability, and interoperability demands of a compliance-driven world.

EC3 2.0 is that evolution.

Rather than competing feature-for-feature with commercial tools, EC3 2.0 strengthens Building Transparency’s role as the neutral, nonprofit backbone upon which governments, enterprises, researchers, and software platforms depend. Decarbonizing the built environment requires shared infrastructure — not competing methods and fragmented databases.

What EC3 2.0 Includes

🏗️ Cloud-Agnostic Architecture

Transitioning to a modern, cloud-agnostic backend to increase resilience, support regional data governance requirements, and enable enterprise and governmental adoption without vendor lock-in.

🤖 AI-Enabled Data Quality

AI-assisted validation and anomaly detection to improve metadata consistency, schema harmonization, and comparability across jurisdictions — scaling global data ingestion while reducing manual bottlenecks.

🌍 Expanded Global EPD Coverage

Enhanced integration across international Program Operators and schema variations to reduce duplicative reporting burdens, support policy implementation, and enable more equitable global market participation.

🔍 Improved Find & Compare

A full UI/UX redesign for clarity and speed, with better filters, statistics, and material insights — reducing barriers to entry and supporting long-term decision-making that drives down carbon.

📐 Assembly Builder & Project Planner

Rebuilt workflow tools for calculating material quantities and project-level embodied carbon across full life cycle stages, with expanded APIs for seamless integration into BIM systems, estimating tools, and enterprise platforms.

📊 Broader Environmental Impact Categories

Better surfacing of additional impact indicators already embedded in EPD data — including toxicity, water use, and recycled content — to align with evolving procurement and biodiversity requirements.

What Our Community Said

In February 2026, we held four community feedback sessions to hear directly from users, developers, manufacturers, and policymakers about EC3’s strengths, gaps, and priorities.

The depth of engagement exceeded our expectations — and your input is directly shaping the EC3 2.0 roadmap.

All session recordings are now available:

• 🎥 Session 1 — Overview & Platform Foundation (Feb 17) | Watch Here
• 🎥 Session 2 — EPD Ecosystem: Sourcing, Quality & Management (Feb 18) | Watch Here
• 🎥 Session 3 — Project Planner, Assemblies & Workflows (Feb 23) | Watch Here
• 🎥 Session 4 — API, Integrations & Developer Experience (Feb 26) | Watch Here

A consolidated slide deck is available here📒.

Go Deeper: Behind the Data

Curious what it actually takes to maintain a database of 200,000+ EPDs? Our Technical Director, Vaclav, recently pulled back the curtain on EC3’s data operations — from AI-powered PDF parsing and automated quality checks to GWP interpretation and version management.

👉 Read: Behind the Data: What It Takes to Keep Up EC3’s EPD Database

Shape What Comes Next

EC3 2.0 is a community effort. There are several ways to stay engaged:

📝 Complete the Feedback Survey: Your input directly shapes the EC3 2.0 roadmap. It takes about ten minutes, and every response matters. Complete the Feedback Survey 

🧪 Join the Beta Testing Group: Interested in testing EC3 2.0 features before they go live? We’re assembling a standing beta group now. contact-us@buildingtransparency.org

📋 Serve on the EC3 Advisory Board: We’re forming an advisory board for quarterly milestone reviews and feedback cycles. contact-us@buildingtransparency.org

Support This Work

Sustaining open, neutral embodied carbon infrastructure depends on people who believe EPD data should be a global public good.

💚 Become a Supporter

Make a charitable contribution directed toward data quality, global expansion, project workflows, or core platform infrastructure. Become a Supporter →

🤝 Become a Partner

If your organization generates EPDs, builds software, or manages a large construction portfolio, a fee-for-service partnership — including API licensing, enterprise instances, and software integrations — may be the right fit. Become a Partner →

Why This Investment Matters

If neutral, interoperable systems are not strengthened now, proprietary fragmentation risks becoming entrenched — increasing long-term policy costs and reducing transparency across the market. EC3 2.0 is a timely opportunity to reinforce the public-interest backbone of embodied carbon accountability at the moment when governments, corporations, and markets are actively building around it.

Open. Trusted. Globally aligned. That’s what EC3 2.0 is for.