Happy Birthday! We’re Celebrating Five Years of EC3

It’s time to light some candles and blow up some balloons because today, we’re celebrating a major milestone: five years of the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3)!

What started as a vision to create a free and open-access tool for understanding the embodied carbon emissions of building projects has quickly turned into a critical solution for companies to measure and reach their sustainability goals.

EC3 houses a robust digital third-party Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) database and building material quantities from BIM models, construction estimates, or as builts.

Let’s take a closer look at how the tool has evolved over the last five years!

EC3 By the Numbers

  • 52,000+ users in more than 76 countries
  • 14,500+ building projects
  • 157,000+ digitized EPDs
  • 5,300+ active companies

EC3 Over the Years

EC3 has transformed the AEC industry, helping building designers, construction companies, and material suppliers directly measure, compare, and reduce the embodied carbon of their products and projects.

Since its launch, major industry players have taken notice of the tool’s importance and now choose to advocate and support its development by testing and sharing feedback on new features and material categories of the tool. Key EC3 supporters include Skanska, Amazon, Google, Autodesk, Microsoft, and more. 

Join us in honoring the growth of EC3 with a look back at the tool’s major milestones:

  • November 2019: EC3 was launched publicly by the Carbon Leadership Forum and more than 50 industry partners.
  • January 2020: Building Transparency was founded to manage and scale EC3.
  • July 2021: EC3 reaches 15,000 users.
  • December 2022: EC3 reaches 30,000 users.
  • January 2024: EC3 reaches 101,000 digitized, open-access EPDs.
  • August 2024: EC3 reaches 50,000 users.
  • November 2024: EC3 celebrates five years.

Help Us Celebrate EC3!

You can help celebrate the EC3 tool by donating toward its continued support and development.

DONATE NOW