A project is where the baseline and scenarios can be modeled, analyzed, and compared to each other.

From the dashboard, begin by clicking the + New Project button.

Fill in the required information and click Create.

After creating your project, many more project settings can be configured by clicking All Project Settings in the left-hand panel of the project page.

Basic Workflow

In C.Scale, the basic workflow is:

1. Create a Project

2. Set a Baseline

5. [Organization feature]

6. [Organization feature]

Important definitions

• A Project includes a baseline and one or more decarbonization scenarios.

• A Baseline is a scenario for a project where no attempts have been made to reduce carbon emissions. To define a baseline, C.Scale makes a set of "business as usual" assumptions based on user inputs. When C.Scale's "business as usual" assumptions are not appropriate, they can be refined.

• A Scenario is a set of strategies to lower a project's carbon emissions. Scenarios are constructed individually and compared against one another in the tab.

The C.Scale data model

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C.Scale is a whole life carbon tool supporting climate-positive design decisions across the building design and delivery life cycle, especially in early project phases when data is scarce but the potential for emissions reduction is high. To overcome the scarcity of data, C.Scale uses a model that combines regionally-specific background data, forward-looking projections, peer-reviewed findings, and industry-leading ML models to assess the relative impact of a variety of carbon reduction measures on a project’s embodied, operational, and landscape carbon footprints.

Aggressive time-based targets have been set for the built environment as part of a society-wide strategy to combat the climate crisis. To meet these targets, quantification of the project’s whole life carbon footprint cannot wait until later project stages, at which point many impactful decisions have already been made. C.Scale is designed as the first step in an iterative low-carbon design process, setting out strategies and project-level targets that can be refined throughout the project lifecycle.

A5.2 Construction Activities

Enter a custom carbon intensity (kgCO₂e/sf) for emissions related to construction activities and land use. The default value assumes 40 kgCO₂e/m² for construction emissions, which includes fuel, tools, and energy used on-site. This default is adjustable based on project-specific data. For greenfield sites, emissions from soil and vegetation are also calculated, using regional data to estimate carbon release from land development.

A5.1 Demolished Area

Pre-construction demolition emissions are calculated per floor area of the demolished building, using a default factor of 35 kgCO2e/m2. This is a data-scarce category. Where project-specific data is available, this default can be overridden by the user.

The following settings are applied at project-level, meaning they are applied to the baseline and all scenarios within the project. This is done so that all scenarios, including the baseline, have the same underlying assumptions, and thus, can be comparable.

To refine the project, click All Project Settings in the left-hand panel.

Scope

One of the leading causes of misalignment between wbLCA results is that they cover different project scopes. For instance, one model may contain only "structure, foundation, and envelope" while another will contain "structure, foundation, envelope, interiors, MEP, and site."

C.Scale allows project teams to refine the scope of analysis by including or excluding LCA stages or parts of the building to meet reporting goals or to facilitate comparison with other projects.

Any decarbonization measures in excluded parts of the project scope are still saved with the project, but will become temporarily unavailable as long as they are out of scope. When their scope is restored, the values will reappear as last entered.

Analysis Period

Select an analysis period to determine over how many years the analysis takes place.

Life Cycle Stages

A4-A5 (Construction Process) Turning off this toggle will remove construction process emissions—counted in the A4 and A5 life cycle stages—from the C.Scale model. This toggle will enable and disable the "Jobsite" decarbonization measures in the right-hand panel.

D, Biogenic Carbon Storage, and Avoided Emissions Turning off this toggle will remove biogenic carbon stored in timber structural elements, carbon sequestered in landscape, and emissions avoided by excess energy production from on-site renewable from the C.Scale model.

Scope Categories

Structure Structure and Foundations are always included.

Enclosure Turning off this toggle will remove the embodied carbon associated with cladding, glazing, and roofing from the C.Scale model, and disable the "Enclosure" decarbonization measures in the right-hand panel.

Interior Turning off this toggle will remove the embodied carbon associated with interior fitouts from the C.Scale model, and disable the "Interior" decarbonization measures in the right-hand panel.

Services Turning off this toggle will remove the embodied carbon associated with MEP and PV Arrays (the energy generated by PV panels will still be included), and disable the "Services" decarbonization measures in the right-hand panel.

Refrigerants Turning off this toggle will remove the emissions associated with refrigerant use in the building, and disable the "Refrigerants" decarbonization measures in the right-hand panel.

Sitework Turning off this toggle will remove all site and landscaping from the C.Scale model, and disable the "Sitework" decarbonization measures in the right-hand panel.

General

Unit System

Modify the unit system for the project's calculations.

Project Name

Select a name for your project.

Project Location

Year of Project Completion

The year that construction is completed and building operation begins. This is the year to which construction emissions are attributed and the C.Scale model begins calculating operational carbon emissions.

Location

Country

The country in which the project is located. Note: a project's country cannot be modified after creating a project.

Postal Code

The postal code in which the project is located.

Use

Primary Use

The use category from the list below most reflective of the project’s main use. This is used to determine the building's energy use and its structural requirements.

Secondary Use

If the primary use comprises less than 100% of the program, a secondary program may be selected for the remainder. This program will affect the EUI (resulting in a ‘blended EUI’) but will not affect the estimate of the building’s structural system.

Building Size

Number of Above Ground Floors

The number of building floors above grade. These floors will be assessed using the selected structural system.

Total Above Ground Constructed Floor Area

The total constructed floor area above ground.

Number of Below Ground Floors

The number of building floors below grade. These floors will be assessed as having a reinforced concrete structural system.

Total Below Ground Constructed Floor Area

The total constructed floor area below ground.

Sitework

Total Site Area

The total site area, including the building footprint and landscaping. The site area cannot be smaller than the building's footprint.

Previously Developed (Brownfield) Site

If the site is not previously developed, it is a greenfield site and the project incurs an emissions penalty for the site disturbance. The magnitude of this penalty is equivalent to the site area’s sequestration potential with low-sequestration plantings.

Electricity Grid

Future Scenario

The future of the electric grid is uncertain. C.Scale gives the user the choice between three future scenarios, each derived from NREL's .

• Expected decarbonization. Average estimates for inputs such as technology costs, fuel prices, and demand growth. No inclusion of nascent technologies. Electric sector policies as they existed in September 2022, with the assumption that the Inflation Reduction Act’s Production and Investment Tax Credits do not phase out. This metric is described in NREL's Cambium model as "Midcase."

• Slow Decarbonization. Average estimates as in the mid-case scenario, but with an assumption that battery and renewable energy costs are high. This scenario assumes that the thresholds set by the Inflation Reduction Act’s Production and Investment Tax Credits are not met and, as such, they do not phase out. This metric is described in NREL's Cambium model as "High Cost of Renewable Energy."

• Rapid Decarbonization. Average estimates for inputs such as technology costs, fuel prices, and demand growth. Nascent technologies are included. Electric sector policies as they existed in September 2022, with the assumption that the Inflation Reduction Act’s Production and Investment Tax Credits do not phase out. High-level assumption that the national electricity grid's carbon emissions in 2050 are 5% of their 2005 level. This metric is described in NREL's Cambium model as "95% decarbonization by 2050."

Emission Metric

For a given scenario, there are multiple methods to account for the emissions associated with a building. Two metrics are provided in C.Scale, both derived from NREL's . Both metrics use GWP-100 characterization factors.

• Average Emission Rate (AER). By default, C.Scale measures annual emission factors by summing the total generation of all resources in a given year and putting them on a MWh basis. This average emission rate also includes 'precombustion emissions from the leakage of fossil gas in the energy supply chain. This metric is described in NREL's Cambium model as "AER Load: Combustion + Precombustion."

• Long-Run Marginal Emission Rates (LRMER). LRMER emissions are described by NREL as emission rates for “of the next unit of electricity considering the grid’s structure as variable.” This emission metric is preferable to a simple average emission rate because buildings are long-lived assets whose demand for energy has a marginal influence on the evolution of the energy grid. This metric is described in NREL's Cambium model as "LRMER: Combustion + Precombustion."

Refrigerants

Average Refrigerant Leakage Rates

Annual and end-of-life refrigerant leakage rates are typically a model assumption, not a carbon reduction measures. In c.scale, there are two options for leakage assumptions.

C.Scale now offers enhanced functionality to find low-carbon product alternatives.

To begin finding products, navigate to the required Assembly Configurator within the interface.

Click on the Find Low-Carbon Products button.

Fill in the details within the modal, and we will work to connect you with low-carbon product manufacturers.

Rename a Scenario

A scenario can be renamed by clicking the 3-dot menu to the right of the scenario name in the left-hand panel.

Within the menu, click Rename.

Modify the scenario's name and click Save.

Duplicate a Scenario

A scenario can be duplicated by clicking the 3-dot menu to the right of the scenario name in the left-hand panel. This creates a new scenario with the same set of carbon reduction measures as the original scenario. This option is useful when constructing a sequence of carbon reduction strategies where each builds on the last.

Within the menu, click Duplicate.

A duplicated version of the selected scenario will be created with "(copy)" at the end of its name.

Delete a Scenario

A scenario can be deleted by clicking the 3-dot menu to the right of the scenario name in the left-hand panel.

Within the menu, click Delete.

Confirm you would like to delete the scenario by clicking Delete.

Floor Area w/ Fit-Out

The percentage of floor space that will be fitted out for occupation by building tenants. The default value is 70%. If tenant fit-out is outside the project scope, this field can be set to 0%.

Interior Fit Out Specification

Share projects within your organization

Within an organization account, projects can be shared with other members. To collaborate on projects in your personal account, you must first move them to the shared organization account. To do so, click on the 3-dot menu to the right of the project name. Choose the Move option.

A pop-up window opens up, choose your Organization from the drop-down menu and click Move.

Conditioned Area

The percentage of total floor area that is heated or cooled.

MEP Specification

Embodied carbon in mechanical systems in evaluated at two specification levels—standard performance and high performance—and is dependent of the total square footage of the building. This approach, and the data used in C.Scale, follow from the CLF study on building mechanical systems.

Embodied Carbon in MEP Systems

Embodied carbon in mechanical systems in evaluated at two specification levels—standard performance and high performance—and is dependent of the total square footage of the building. This approach, and the data used in C.Scale, follow from the CLF study on building mechanical systems.

A custom carbon intensity of MEP systems can be entered by passing a kgCO2e per area (sf or m2, depending on the unit system) value directly to the app. The area basis for this calculation is the total floor area multiplied by the percentage of conditioned floor area.

Building Perimeter

The user-declared perimeter of the building. In the absence of a user input, C.Scale assumes the building is an extruded square.

Floor-to-Floor Height

To determine a decarbonization target for the project, carbon reduction measures can be applied to scenarios. C.Scale highlights salient carbon reduction measures that can be consistently modeled with available data. The set of carbon reduction measures included in C.Scale do not represent an exhaustive list of possible emission reduction strategies.

Data model typically happen on a weekly basis, and updates to the web application are delivered continuously. We publish a log of all updates which update C.Scale's calculations, expand the utility of the data model, or feel generally important to communicate (e.g., bug fixes, post-mortem reports after outages, or general performance updates). The version log is live at https://cscale.canny.io/changelog.

Schedule of Spaces

For each use category, C.Scale assembles a schedule of spaces to fit the modeled building's overall area, based on precedent data from similar buidings. This space schedule is generic and does not include desriptions of the space's purpose, only the floor area and count of each.

Where the user has more specific data, they can explicitly declare this schedule of spaces in the API request or by adding and configuring spaces in the frontend application.

Assembly Takeoffs

For each space, C.Scale conducts takeoffs for ceiling, flooring, interior wall, and door assemblies. Takeoffs for ceiling, flooring, and interior walls are on an area basis, and doors are by count. Default wall assemblies are "single-sided" to prevent double-counting between shared walls. C.Scale includes data on typical furniture and fixtures per floor area for the spaces.

Where the user declares specific assemblies and their quantities, they may do so within the API request or in the frontend application.

Material Takeoffs

For each specific assembly, C.Scale conducts material takeoffs to convert the area or quantity of each assembly into a bill of materials. These takeoffs include both major (ex. drywall) and ancillary (ex. fasteners) materials.

Generic assemblies do not have material takeoff data. These generic assemblies summarize general trends across a range of specific assemblies, sampling the resulting distribution at the 20th, 50th, and 80th percentile. Because these metrics are statistically derived from summary data describing a range of assemblies, there are no takeoffs available. Said differently, it is not sensible to make a physical description of the average of a fully-glazed and a CMU interior wall - but we can still determine the range of carbon performance possible across interior wall types.

Material Data

For each material takeoff, C.Scale evaluates whole life cycle emissions using generic data derived from regionally available EPDs for that material. These EPDs are used to construct a range of possible carbon intensites, and the range is sampled at the 20th, 50th, and 80th percentile to create the options exposed in the UI and via API.

Create a new scenario

Scenarios are user-defined sets of carbon reduction measures that can be analyzed and compared with one another.

Click the + New Scenario button to create a new scenario where carbon reduction measures can be applied. The newly created scenario will include all of the carbon reduction measures that are applied to the baseline. Additionally, existing scenarios can be duplicated to create new scenarios.

Name the new scenario and click Create.

With the newly created scenario selected in the left-hand panel, use the right-hand panel to begin applying carbon reduction measures, which are generally divided into the following categories:

• . These measures deal with the savings from reuse of existing building assemblies.

• . These measures pertain to the impact the form of the building has on the amount of materials used in the structure and enclosure.

• . These measures pertain to reducing the use of energy in the building, and selecting clean sources of energy.

• . These measures pertain to selecting low carbon alternatives for the substructure and superstructure, including both lateral and gravity systems.

When a user enters a site area, they have the option to select whether or not the site has been previously developed. If the site has been previously developed, C.Scale treats it as a "brownfield" site with no carbon sequestered in its soil and existing landscape. If the site has not been previously developed, C.Scale treats it as a "greenfield" site with preexisting vegetation.

Planted Area

Set the percentage of site area, minus the building footprint, which is planted. To calculate emissions from the removal of above-ground biomass, C.Scale treats the site as vegetated with regionally-specific "low carbon storage" plants (such as no-mow turfgrass or other herbaceous perennials) at 50% of the site's carrying capacity. All unplanted area is assumed to be hardscape.

High Carbon Storage Planted Area

Set the percentage of the planted site area comprised of a high carbon storage landscape, such as dense broadleaf shrubs and trees in a matrix of no-mow turfgrass or herbaceous perennials.

Hardscape specification

All site area not designated as planted is assumed to be hardscaped. The specification of the pervious and impervious surfaces on the building site (outside the building enclosure. These specification levels do not describe specific materials or assemblies. Instead, they approximate the 80th, 50th, and 20th percentile of the distribution of all hardscape assemblies based on a set of standard details.

Hardscape Service Life

The length of time over which a majority of the site's hardscape will be replaced.

C.Scale assesses the efficacy of carbon reduction measures in relative terms as a reduction in the carbon emissions from a baseline scenario. The baseline scenario is determined from a set of conservative assumptions which represent a project in which no efforts have been made to reduce carbon emissions. The baseline scenario provides a means of comparison for evaluating carbon reduction measures.

• Baseline scenarios are fully customizable.

• Baseline scenarios can be configured as new construction, renovation or a combination of both.

• Baseline scenarios can be configured to align with code.

• Baseline scenarios are flexible, and any scenario can be tagged as the baseline.

Refining the Baseline

In the left-hand panel, select the scenario tagged "Baseline".

After selecting the baseline scenario in the left-hand panel, the following warning will be displayed in the right-hand panel. The warning serves as a reminder that you are editing the baseline, which is used as the reference for all other scenarios.

The baseline can be refined using the in the right-hand panel.

Setting Another Scenario as the Baseline

Any scenario within the project can be set as the baseline, and serve as the reference point for the project. To set another scenario as the baseline, click the 3-dot menu to the right of the scenario name in the left-hand panel.

Within the menu, click Set as Baseline to set another scenario as the reference for comparison.

Analyzing the Baseline

With the baseline scenario selected in the left-hand panel, it can be analyzed using the following charts:

To create AIA DDx reports, make sure to set the Target Scenario for all the projects you want to include in the report.

AIA DDx Reporting can be done in two ways within the C.Scale app: either individually (for embodied carbon reporting) or in bulk (for holistic reporting).

Individual Project Reporting

Inside the project, right above the Project Name, you'll find an Export button. Click on it and select the AIA 2030 Commitment Embodied Carbon Report (PDF).

A pop-up menu opens up where you can choose the Phase of Project and Export.

The PDF report is designed to mirror the AIA DDx Reporting interface, making it easy for you to report. Just copy the content from the boxes and paste it directly into the Reporting interface! Easy, peasy!

Bulk Reporting

To bulk report multiple projects, go to a Portfolio or Collection and click on the Export button located int he project settings on the left-hand panel. From the drop-down, choose AIA 2030 DDx Bulk Export.

A pop-up menu will appear, displaying all the projects in that portfolio or collection. You can either select All Projects or choose individual projects one by one that you want to report on. Once you've made your selection, click the Export button to proceed.

The exported Excel file contains all the essential information you need for reporting to the AIA 2030 Commitment. Below is an example of what the file may look like.

To export a full project report, follow the same export flow as you use for embodied carbon DDx reporting.

Inside the project, right above the Project Name, you'll find an Export button. Click on it and select the Project Report (PDF) or Project Data (XLSX).

Then, you will be prompted to select up to five scenarios (including the baseline and target) to include in the report.

Project Report (PDF)

This report is a PDF summarizing the overall project, the baseline scenario, the target scenario, and a small number of supporting scenarios.

Curious to see any example report? Create a free organization and try it for yourself!

Project Data (PDF)

This report is an Excel sheet with raw data for the overall project, the baseline scenario, the target scenario, and a small number of supporting scenarios.

After comparing scenarios, you can choose the one that best suits your desired emissions scenario and set it as your "Target".

A scenario can be set as target by clicking the 3-dot menu to the right of the scenario name in the left-hand panel.

Within the menu, click Set as Target.

The Target scenario also becomes your reference scenario when comparing different projects within your portfolio and for AIA Ddx Reporting.

Currently, there is no comprehensive source of whole-life carbon benchmarking data, as embodied and operational emissions are often tracked and reported separately. Still, sources exist for understanding typical performance for both operational and embodied emissions. C.Scale’s data model makes use of benchmarking data as described below.

Embodied Carbon Benchmarks

C.Scale benchmarks the embodied emissions of a building against the Carbon Leadership Forum’s WBLCA Benchmark Study (2025), providing users with an easy-to-understand reference for whether their building is low-, average-, or high-carbon compared to other buildings.

The CLF WBLCA Benchmark Dataset includes cradle-to-grave WBLCA results for 239 “new construction” projects across North America. Renovation or tenant improvement (TI) projects and parking garages in the full dataset have not been used for Benchmarking purposes. The CLF Embodied Carbon Benchmark Report establishes Embodied Carbon Intensities (ECI) in kgCO2e/m2 normalized by a project’s gross floor area (GFA) for six general use types: multifamily residential, education, office, public assembly, warehouse and storage, and other. CLF Benchmark models include structure, envelope, interiors, and construction activities, but exclude services (MEP), landscape/site, and operational emissions (including energy use and refrigerants). All WBLCA models in the dataset have been aligned to a reference study period (RSP) of 60 years.

When calculating embodied carbon benchmark values, C.Scale aligns background data with the scope selected by the user and compares it to the relevant data in the CLF WBLCA Benchmark Study dataset. Benchmarks can be generated for A1-3, A1-A5, or A-C assessments. Percentile results displayed in the tool include building materials and construction activities (SE or SEI), but always exclude services/MEP, landscape, demolition, and operational emissions (such as energy use and refrigerants).

To improve compatibility with published benchmark figures, we suggest users view the model over a 60-year assessment period and adjust the model's scope using the life cycle stage or building element categories available in the project settings panel.

API Reference

C.Scale is a calculation service and web application streamlining whole life carbon assessments.

Peer Review and Feedback

Iterations of C.Scale have been reviewed in whole or part by colleagues at MKA, Carbon Leadership Forum, Autodesk, and others. Thank you to Jamy Bacchus, Ted Tiffany, Kayleigh Houde, and Peter Alsbach for their careful review of early versions of out refrigerant emissions data and methodology.

The project team owes a heartfelt thanks to the group of over 80 firms that participated in our initial closed beta, the input of whom was essential to our model's early development, and the countless users who have since offered feedback, critique, and unique use cases.

Despite this review, errors may persist. If you are interested in providing additional review and have the expertise to do so, .

Contact

Questions regarding the model, its methodology, or the data? Emails to .

Copyright

C.Scale © 2023-2025 Climate Scale, Inc. All rights reserved.

Exporting graphics was a highly requested feature! To get started, click the Download button located on the right side of all the charts available on C.Scale.

From the drop-down, choose to download the chart in either PNG or PDF format.

The PNG is downloaded with a transparent background so it can be added to your presentation decks. The PDF is a scalable vector graphic - useful for high-resolution presentations or for post-processing the graphic (e.g, changing the colors in a vector-based editing program like Adobe Illustrator).

The C.Scale Organization Account offers a range of powerful features to enhance your firm's workflow in whole life carbon analysis. Here are the key benefits of using the Organization Account:

1. Start for Free: Start using the Organization Account at no cost for up to three projects, allowing you to explore the available features.

2. Seamless Project Transfer: Once you're satisfied with your project in your Personal Account, easily transfer it to the Organization Account for enhanced capabilities.

After , they can be compared in the "Compare" tab. Typically, multiple strategies for reducing carbon emissions are under consideration in the early project phases. In C.Scale, these strategies can be compared graphically and numerically.

Use the toggles in the left-hand panel to add or remove scenarios from the Compare charts. Scenarios will be plotted in the order in which they appear in the left-hand panel list.

Emissions Over Time

This figure compares each scenario to the baseline across the analysis period.

Note that some carbon reduction measures can actually increase

The following settings are applied at the portfolio level, meaning they affect the target scenario for each project. This ensures that all projects within the portfolio share the same underlying assumptions, making them comparable.

To refine the portfolio, click on All Portfolio Settings in the left-hand panel.

Scope

C.Scale allows project teams to refine the scope of analysis at the portfolio-level by including or excluding LCA stages or parts of the building to meet reporting goals or to facilitate comparison within the portfolio.

Welcome to C.Scale!

C.Scale is a whole life carbon calculation engine estimating emissions from building construction, renovation, and operation. When highly-detailed energy modeling and life cycle assessment aren't affordable or practicable, teams use C.Scale.

C.Scale is designed for use during site and feasibility studies, requests for proposals, pre-design, in retrospective analysis, or in other situations where a whole-building life cycle assessments and/or energy models are not practicable.

The model allows a user to enter a strict minimum of project parameters to test a wide range of the most meaningful carbon reduction strategies. It is the calculation engine behind numerous web applications and research efforts focused on both forward-looking planning and retrospective analysis of carbon emissions from buildings and the built environment.

In C.Scale, fugitive emissions from refrigerant leakage are categorized as operational emissions. They are counted in life cycle stage B1.

For each year of operation, emissions from refrigerant leakage are calculated as:

For each year where MEP systems are replaced/refurbished (denoted in C.Scale as the “refurbishment period”), emissions from refrigerant leakage are calculated as:

Estimating Total Refrigerant Charge

Estimates of total building refrigerant charge are based on data in Barbara Rodriguez’s dissertation entitled "Embodied Carbon of Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigerants (HVAC+R) Systems." These data are collected from a sample of 20 LEED-certified buildings in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.

C.Scale allows users to approximate the carbon emissions and sequestration associated with site and landscape features. All site area not occupied by the building footprint is assumed to be a combination of hardscape (sidewalks, site walls, paving, parking) and planted areas.

Construction Emissions and Land Use Change

Developing a "greenfield" site (one that has not been previously developed) will release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through the disturbance of carbon stocks in soils and vegetation. Emissions from site disturbance and land use change are reported in life cycle stage A5.2 - Jobsite Activities.

When a user enters a site area, they have the option to select whether or not the site has been previously developed. If the site has been previously developed, C.Scale treats it as a "brownfield" site with no carbon sequestered in its soil and existing landscape. If the site has not been previously developed, C.Scale treats it as a "greenfield" site with preexisting vegetation.

Use the toggles in the left-hand panel to add or remove projects from the Total Emissions chart.

Total Emissions Over 60 Years

This figure describes the cumulative carbon emissions of a building over time. As a chart of cumulative emissions, the height of the bar is the total emissions associated with the building up to and including that year rather than only the emissions associated with that year.

This chart has a number of elements:

The C.Scale model calculates the avoided emissions associated with surplus energy generated on-site through photovoltaic panels. The benefits from exported utilities (e.g., the avoided impact of grid electricity generation) are reported in Module D and as a separate model element called “Avoided Emissions.” Module D must be communicated separately from A-C impacts since it represents benefits outside of the system boundary of the building project.

Calculation of avoided emissions from surplus energy generation

Once production from an onsite solar array has exceeded annual electricity use, C.Scale assumes all additional energy generated by the array displaces the generation of electricity by the electrical grid. The avoided emissions from surplus onsite energy generation are calculated as the emissions that this displaced energy would have incurred.

This method assumes that there is no curtailment of PV production and that the carbon emissions of grid electricity when solar energy is produced are substantially similar to the annual average emissions. In locations with a high proportion of solar on the grid,

A Portfolio lets you compare all active projects in your organization across the same scope categories and LCA stages, ensuring consistency and normalization for an "apples to apples" comparison.

From the Organization Dashboard, begin by clicking the + New Portfolio button.

Portfolios can be created to be either Static or Dynamic.

1. Static Portfolios:

Goal

C.Scale provides directionally accurate guidance for specific projects by helping to identify which carbon reduction strategies a project should pursue, and helps to guide decarbonization of portfolios and portions of the building stock where C.Scale assumptions have been tested (i.e., in North America and the EU).

Energy

All Electric Building

The elimination of all onsite combustion and provision of 100% of the project’s energy use from electric sources.

Scenarios can be analyzed using the following charts found within the This Scenario tab.

Emissions Over Time

This figure describes the cumulative carbon emissions of a building over time. As a chart of cumulative emissions, the height of the bar in each year is the total emissions associated with the building up to and including that year rather than only the emissions associated with that year.

This chart has a number of elements:

• Reduction from Baseline. Cumulative reduction in emissions of the current scenario as compared to the baseline.

• Refrigerant Emissions. Cumulative emissions associated with the refrigerant use in the building services.

• Electricity Emissions. Cumulative emissions associated with the energy use from the electrical grid.

• Fossil Fuel Emissions. Cumulative emissions associated with onsite fossil fuel use.

• Embodied carbon emissions. Cumulative emissions associated with building materials, their replacements, and with landscape maintenance.

• Biogenic Carbon Storage. Sequestered emissions from building structure and landscape planting.

• Avoided Energy Emissions. Avoided emissions from onsite energy generation in excess of use.

• Net Emissions. Operational, embodied, and refrigerant emissions minus biogenic carbon storage and and avoided energy emissions.

• Climate Positive Threshold. When the net emissions of a project crosses the zero line, the crossing point is marked as the Climate Positive threshold.

Hovering over a bar gives the summary of emissions in that year. This is useful for determining how the project is performing against time-based targets (e.g. a 2030 net zero target). Hovering over the final year in the chart gives the total emissions across the analysis period. Note that these numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred and may not sum to net emissions in all cases.

Emissions by Scope Category

This chart breaks down the building's contribution to operational carbon emissions (B6), embodied carbon emissions (A1-A3, A4-A5, B1, B2-B5, C1-C4, D), and biogenic carbon storage by scope category. This figure represents the total cumulative emissions associated with the scenario across the entire analysis period.

When comparing C.Scale results to wbLCA results at later project phases, this breakdown can be helpful in confirming if designs are within the carbon budget for a particular scope cateory for the project as a whole.

Each of the scope categories breaks carbon emissions into the following Life Cycle Stages:

• A1-A3. Total upstream product emissions associated with the scope category.

• A4-A5. Total construction jobsite emissions associated with the scope category.

• B1. Total in-use emissions associated with the scope category.

• B2-B5. Total replacement and refurbishment emissions associated with the scope category.

Emissions by Life Cycle Stage

This chart breaks down the building's contribution to operational carbon emissions (B6), embodied carbon emissions (A1-A3, A4-A5, B1, B2-B5, C1-C4, D), and biogenic carbon storage by LCA stage. This figure represents the total cumulative emissions associated with the scenario across the entire analysis period.

When comparing C.Scale results to wbLCA results at later project phases, this breakdown can be helpful in confirming if designs are within the carbon budget for a particular LCA stage for the project as a whole.

Each of the LCA stages breaks carbon emissions into the following scope categories:

• Energy Use. Sources and use of energy in the building.

• Structure. Substructure and superstructure, including both lateral and gravity systems.

• Enclosure. Solid exterior wall, transparent exterior wall, and roofing.

• Interior. Interior construction and fit-out.

Emissions Summary

This donut chart displays the proportional relationship of the scenario's emissions over the analysis period.

This chart has a number of elements:

• Refrigerant Emissions. Cumulative emissions associated with the refrigerant use in the building services.

• Electricity Emissions. Cumulative emissions associated with the energy use from the electrical grid.

• Fossil Fuel Emissions. Cumulative emissions associated with onsite fossil fuel use.

• Embodied carbon emissions. Cumulative emissions associated with building materials, their replacements, and with landscape maintenance.

😌 Simple Design

Structure Reuse

The reuse of a pre-existing structural system for a given percentage of the building's floor area. Note that these measures only affect upfront emissions; refurbishments are counted normally.

Enclosure Quantity Takeoffs

The building enclosure in divided into three components: solid exterior wall, transparent exterior wall, and roofing. The area of each is calculated based on user inputs for building floor area, number of floors, floor-to-floor height window-to-wall ratio (WWR), and building perimeter. C.Scale makes a preliminary estimate of floor-to-floor height, WWR, and building perimeter (assuming a square building) which the user can refine in the "overrides" panel in the base case tab.

Biogenic Carbon

Living systems present a particular challenge for carbon emission accounting. Static emission factors are sufficient for manmade or mineral materials, but biogenic materials—those materials, such as forest products, originating from living systems—can’t be as easily summarized. Through photosynthesis, living materials remove carbon from the atmosphere as they grow; and return that carbon to the atmosphere as emissions when they decompose or combust. While the primary mechanisms of biogenic carbon sequestration, storage, and emissions are well understood, they are inconsistently applied and reported across various product and building standards, making comparison and reporting at a building scale challenging.

Biogenic carbon can be reported using one of two approaches:

• Biogenic Carbon Emissions (GWP-bio): When reported as an emission, GWP-bio must be calculated separately from fossil emissions and will include multiple greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Quantification and reporting of biogenic carbon emissions differ between ISO and EN standards and are currently not harmonized across North American and European EPDs. Additionally, some emissions, such as those associated with the burning of biomass during manufacturing, are often omitted based on the assumption that biomass from sustainable forestry and other land management will rapidly grow back and can be assumed to be carbon neutral.

• Biogenic Carbon Storage (stored carbon): Biogenic carbon (C) contained in bio-based materials can also be reported as an inventory metric. This value represents the quantity of carbon that was previously sequestered over the growth of the plant material and which is stored in the building materials during their useful life. Stored carbon is a simplified metric that does not represent all the complexity of biogenic carbon emissions during production or end of life, that the GWP-bio approach (described above) entails. It also does not include any representation of near-term emissions or how or when the carbon stock eventually leaves the "product system." For these reasons, stored carbon is reported separately from emissions and should not be combined with GWP-total. These values can be used as inputs to models that value short-term and durable carbon storage, such as the by Climate Cleanup.

C.Scale approach

C.Scale reports all embodied fossil carbon emissions (GWP-fossil) associated with manufacturing, use, and end-of-life of bio-based materials, but does not include the "negative emissions" from biogenic carbon stored in the product entering the "product system" in modules A1-3, nor the release of CO2 back to the atmosphere in C3. The model adopts a carbon balance approach over the lifetime of the building. Biogenic carbon storage is only shown as additional information. Currently, C.Scale does not report biogenic carbon emissions (GWP-bio) per life cycle stage.

This approach is compatible with the approach adopted by the , and is comparible to results from , and (excluding biogenic carbon).

Fossil emissions (GWP-fossil) associated with the extraction, transportation, manufacturing, and disposal of bio-based materials are always counted in the C.Scale model and are reported in the life cycle stage in which they occur. C.Scale assumes that lumber, plywood, and mass timber assemblies are landfilled, recycled, or combusted for energy at the end of their useful life. The mix of landfilling, combustion, and recycling is determined by the EPA analysis of US disposal in 2018. The emissions from these three activities are calculated with the EPA’s Waste Reduction Model (v15).

This approach differs from other methods and regulatory standards, such as E15804+A2, where biogenic carbon is reported as an emission (GWP-bio) that can be summed with other emissions (GWP-fossil, GWP-luluc). C.Scale aims to expand this functionality in the future.

Carbon storage in wood products

To calculate stored carbon, C.Scale follows an equation provided in EN16449 and referenced by ISO21930 and EN15804+A2 that estimates the carbon content per volume of product. As materials represented in the C.Scale model are generic, rather than product-specific, the dataset uses standard assumptions for density and moisture content.

Carbon Storage is expressed with the following equation:

Where:

= the biogenic carbon oxidized as carbon dioxide emissions from the product system into the atmosphere

44/12 = ratio of molecular mass of CO2 and C molecules

= carbon fraction of woody biomass (oven dry mass), 0.5 used as a default value

= moisture content of the product, 15% used as a default value

= density of woody biomass at that moisture content (kg/m3)

= volume of solid wood product at that moisture content (m3)

For engineered wood products, wood volume content % wood or bio content in full product

=gross volume of the wood-based product

Carbon storage in lumber, plywood, and mass timber assemblies should only be counted if those materials are sourced from responsibly managed forests. Practically, this can mean a number of things. In C.Scale, we identify three criteria contributing to the claim that wood products are responsibly sourced. While C.Scale does not prevent the user from counting the carbon storage benefits on other terms (as the list below is non-exhaustive), we recommend meeting at least two out of the three criteria below in order to claim climate benefits from carbon storage:

• Transparency and traceability in the supply chain (required). Transparency and traceability in the supply chain. Claims can be made about the environmental attributes of timber are impossible to verify without transparency and traceability in the supply chain. This means that a project team should be able to identify:

  1. The source forest(s) or supply area(s)

     • This is the area from which a primary manufacturer sources most or all of its logs, typically a circle drawn around the location of the site of the mill, with the size being dictated by the maximum hauling distance of the logs.

C.Scale assumes that lumber, plywood, and mass timber assemblies are landfilled, recycled, or combusted for energy at the end of their useful life. The mix of landfilling, combustion, and recycling is determined by the EPA analysis of US disposal in 2018. The emissions from these three activities are calculated with the EPA’s Waste Reduction Model (v15).

Carbon storage in landscape and site features

C.Scale measures the annual carbon storage of in living and growing landscapes. We assume that all plantings will achieve maturity across the building project's reference period. Carbon storage in the landscape is accrued year over year by amortizing the total carbon storage in mature landscapes over the model's reference period.

Globally, the storage of carbon in vegetation and soils is a major carbon sink. There are a number of imperatives for greening our built environment—such as , , or —that add positive co-benefits to the carbon storage potential of green space.

In C.Scale, the landscaped area is assumed to approach its maximum storage potential (its "carrying capacity") over a 60-year period after site disturbance. The amount of carbon that a landscape can store is location-dependent (i.e., a landscape in Miami can store more carbon than one of a similar size in Arizona).

Many designed landscapes undergo regular maintenance. Emissions from the maintenance of carbon-storing landscapes are assessed as embodied emissions. The storage potential of a landscape or green roof depends on its area, its specification (low, moderate, or high storage), and the location of the project.

Timing of Carbon Storage

Carbon storage in structural materials is assessed once in the first year of the project, and landscape sequestration is assessed each year. Biogenic carbon sequestration is evaluated with the following expression:

Where is the quantity of structural wood products , is the carbon content per unit , is the area A of planting type k, and is the carbon sequestration in year per area of planting .

C.Scale generates time series estimates of a building's carbon emissions and organizes those emissions by emission category and life cycle stage.

A1-3: Upstream Product Emissions

A1-A3 emissions are calculated from a bill of materials (e.g., life cycle inventory) inferred from the user's description of a building. The exact method for generating that bill of materials and calculating A1-A3 emissions varies by building assembly.

For each contributor , embodied emissions in life cycle stages A1-A3 are assessed with the following expression:

Where is the quantity of material of all materials n, and is the carbon intensity per unit of material

Embodied Carbon in Building Structure

Embodied carbon in building structure is calculated in two stages: a bill of structural materials is estimated and carbon intensities are applied to those materials.

C.Scale's estimation of embodied carbon in a building's structure is modeled based on machine learning models built from over bills of material from real buildings. This approach is preferable to a first-principles approach—i.e. assuming an optimized structural grid for a given geometry—because it greatly reduces truncation error and better describes the variation present in real buildings.

😌 Simple Design

Reuse

Solid Exterior Wall Reuse

The reuse of solid exterior wall for a given percentage of the building’s total enclosure.

Transparent Exterior Wall Reuse

The reuse of transparent exterior wall for a given percentage of the building’s total enclosure.

Roofing Reuse

The reuse of the roofing assembly for a given percentage of the building’s total roof area.

Note: these reuse measures only affect upfront emissions; refurbishments are counted normally.

Enclosure Specification

Carbon Intensity

The carbon intensity of the enclosure assemblies. C.Scale includes a dynamic enclosure model which allows users to input very general data (when very little is known) or very specific data (during later stages of design). When specific data is not known, the app includes C.Scale's pre-defined carbon intensities, defined by the levels of ambition.

Service Life

The length of time over which a majority of the enclosure will be replaced.

Takeoffs

Material takeoffs are displayed for the total exterior wall, solid exterior wall, transparent exterior wall, and roofing.

🤓 Detailed Design

The Detailed Design configurator supports the input of project-specific data.

To begin using this feature, turn on Detailed Design within the Enclosure accordion, and then click "Configure Enclosure".

Solid Exterior Wall Assemblies

When more data is available, C.Scale allows you to define specific cladding assemblies, exterior insulation types, and wall framing assemblies. C.Scale will apply your reuse, carbon intensity, and service life settings from the "simple" enclosure editor to an "undeclared" assembly that can be configured in greater detail. C.Scale will use your description of the solid exterior wall (i.e., any declarations of specific materials) to subset our library of solid exterior wall assemblies to only those meeting your criteria. This allows the user to know the range of potential carbon intensities available both within and between their declared design.

You can configure solid exterior wall assemblies using the table and the following fields in the right-hand panel:

Quantity

The percentage of total solid exterior wall area where the assembly is applied.

Cladding Type

The outermost material layer exposed to weather.

Exterior Insulation

The insulation layer installed on the exterior side of the wall structure.

Framing

The primary structural material in the wall.

R-Value / RSI

The thermal resistance of the assembly. C.Scale applies default values based on the project's climate zone.

Material Origin

The source of the material.

Carbon Intensity

The carbon intensity of the configured assembly, taking into account the thickness of exterior insulation required to achieve the R-Value / RSI.

Service Life

Number of years over which at least half of the assembly’s components will be replaced.

Transparent Exterior Wall Assemblies

When more data is available, C.Scale allows you to define specific glazing units, mullions, and insulation. C.Scale will apply your reuse, carbon intensity, and service life settings from the "simple" enclosure editor to an "undeclared" assembly that can be configured in greater detail. C.Scale will use your description of the transparent exterior wall (i.e., any declarations of specific materials) to subset our library of transparent exterior wall assemblies to only those meeting your criteria. This allows the user to know the range of potential carbon intensities available both within and between their declared design.

You can configure transparent exterior wall assemblies using the table and the following fields in the right-hand panel:

Quantity

The percentage of total transparent exterior wall area where the assembly is applied.

Glazing Type

The type of transparent assembly.

Glazing Unit

The transparent portion of a window assembly

Frame

The frame material of a window assembly.

Material Origin

The source of the material.

Carbon Intensity

The carbon intensity of the configured assembly.

Service Life

Number of years over which at least half of the assembly’s components will be replaced.

Roofing Assemblies

When more data is available, C.Scale allows you to define specific roof types, insulation and R-Values/ RSI. C.Scale will apply your reuse, carbon intensity, and service life settings from the "simple" enclosure editor to an "undeclared" assembly that can be configured in greater detail. C.Scale will use your description of the roof (i.e., any declarations of specific materials) to subset our library of roofing assemblies to only those meeting your criteria. This allows the user to know the range of potential carbon intensities available both within and between their declared design.

You can configure roofing assemblies using the table and the following fields in the right-hand panel:

Quantity

The percentage of total roof area where the assembly is applied.

Roof Type

The type of roof assembly.

Exterior Insulation

The insulation layer installed on the exterior side of the roof structure.

R-Value / RSI

The thermal resistance of the assembly.

Material Origin

The source of the material.

Carbon Intensity

The carbon intensity of the configured assembly.

Service Life

Number of years over which at least half of the assembly’s components will be replaced.

The previous version of our Privacy Policy is available here.

This Privacy Policy describes how Climate Scale Inc. (“C.Scale”, “we”, “us” or “our”) processes personal information that we collect through our digital or online properties or services that link to this Privacy Policy (including as applicable, our website and social media pages) as well as our marketing activities, live events, and other activities described in this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Service”). C.Scale may provide additional or supplemental privacy policies to individuals for specific products or services that we offer at the time we collect personal information.

C.Scale is a whole life carbon tool supporting climate-positive design decisions across the building design and delivery life cycle. This Privacy Policy does not apply to information that we process on behalf of our business customers (such as architects, building engineers, real estate companies, and building owners) while providing services to them. Our use of information that we process on behalf of our business customers may be governed by our agreements with such customers. If you have concerns regarding your personal information that we process on behalf of a business customer, please direct your concerns to that customer.

Index

• Personal information we collect

• Tracking technologies

• How we use your personal information

• How we share your personal information

Personal information we collect

Information you provide to us. Personal information you may provide to us through the Service or otherwise includes:

• Contact data, such as your first and last name, salutation, email address, billing and mailing addresses, professional title and company name, and phone number.

• Demographic data, such as your city, state, country of residence, and postal code.

• Profile data, such as the username and password that you may set to establish an online account on the Service and any other information that you add to your account profile.

• Communications data

Third-party sources. We may combine personal information we receive from you with personal information falling within one of the categories identified above that we obtain from other sources, such as:

• Public sources, such as government agencies, public records, social media platforms, and other publicly available sources.

• Partners, such marketing partners and event co-sponsors.

• Service providers that provide services on our behalf or help us operate the Service or our business.

Automatic data collection. We, our service providers, and our business partners may automatically log information about you, your computer or mobile device, and your interaction over time with the Service, our communications and other online services, such as:

• Device data, such as your internet protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access the Service.

• Online activity data, such as pages or screens you viewed, how long you spent on a page or screen, the website you visited before browsing to the Service, navigation paths between pages or screens, information about your activity on a page or screen, access times and duration of access, and whether you have opened our emails or clicked links within them.

• Location data when you authorize the Service to access your device’s location.

For more information concerning our automatic collection of data, please see the Tracking technologies section below.

Data about others. We may offer features that help users invite their contacts to use the Service, and we may collect contact details about these invitees so we can deliver their invitations. Please do not refer someone to us or share their contact details with us unless you have their permission to do so.

Tracking Technologies

Cookies and similar technologies. Some of the automatic collection described above is facilitated by the following technologies:

• Cookies, which are small text files that websites store on user devices and that allow web servers to record users’ web browsing activities and remember their submissions, preferences, and login status as they navigate a site. Cookies used on our sites include both “session cookies” that are deleted when a session ends, “persistent cookies” that remain longer, “first party” cookies that we place and “third party” cookies that our third-party business partners and service providers place.

• Local storage technologies, like HTML5, that provide cookie-equivalent functionality but can store larger amounts of data on your device outside of your browser in connection with specific applications.

• Web beacons, also known as pixel tags or clear GIFs, which are used to demonstrate that a webpage or email was accessed or opened, or that certain content was viewed or clicked.

For information concerning your choices with respect to the use of tracking technologies, see the Your choices section, below.

How we use your personal information

We may use your personal information for the following purposes or as otherwise described at the time of collection:

Service delivery and operations. We may use your personal information to:

• provide and operate the Service;

• enable security features of the Service;

• establish and maintain your user profile on the Service;

• facilitate your invitations to contacts who you want to invite to join the Service;

Service personalization, which may include using your personal information to:

• understand your needs and interests;

• personalize your experience with the Service and our Service-related communications; and

• remember your selections and preferences as you navigate webpages.

Research and development. We may use your personal information for research and development purposes, including to analyze and improve the Service and our business. As part of these activities, we may create aggregated, de-identified or other anonymous data from personal information we collect. We make personal information into anonymous or de-identified data by removing information that makes the data personally identifiable to you. We may use this anonymous or de-identified data and share it with third parties for our lawful business purposes, including to analyze and improve the Service and promote our business.

Service improvement and analytics. We may use your personal information to analyze your usage of the Service, improve the Service, improve the rest of our business, help us understand user activity on the Service, including which pages are most and least visited and how visitors move around the Service, as well as user interactions with our emails, and to develop new products and services. For example, we use Google Analytics for this purpose.

Marketing. We and our service providers may collect and use your personal information for direct marketing communications and may personalize these messages based on your needs and interests.You may opt-out of our marketing communications as described in the Opt-out of communications section below.

Compliance and protection. We may use your personal information to:

• comply with applicable laws, lawful requests, and legal process, such as to respond to subpoenas, investigations or requests from government authorities;

• protect our, your or others’ rights, privacy, safety or property (including by making and defending legal claims);

• audit our internal processes for compliance with legal and contractual requirements or our internal policies;

• enforce the terms and conditions that govern the Service; and

Data sharing in the context of corporate events, we may share certain personal information in the context of actual or prospective corporate events – for more information, see How we share your personal information, below.

To create aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data. We may create aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data from your personal information and other individuals whose personal information we collect. We make personal information into de-identified and/or anonymized data by removing information that makes the data identifiable to you. We may use this aggregated, de-identified and/or anonymized data and share it with third parties for our lawful business purposes, including to analyze and improve the Service and promote our business.

Further uses, in some cases, we may use your personal information for further uses, in which case we will ask for your consent to use of your personal information for those further purposes if they are not compatible with the initial purpose for which information was collected.

How we share your personal information

We may share your personal information with the following parties and as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy, in other applicable notices, or at the time of collection.

• Affiliates. Our corporate parent, subsidiaries, and affiliates.

• Service providers. Third parties that provide services on our behalf or help us operate the Service or our business (such as hosting, information technology, customer support, online chat functionality providers, email delivery, marketing, consumer research and website analytics).

• Payment processors. Any payment card information you use to make a purchase on the Service is collected and processed directly by our payment processors, such as Stripe. Stripe may use your payment data in accordance with its privacy policy, https://stripe.com/privacy.

Your choices

In this section, we describe the choices available to you.

Access or update your information. If you have registered for an account with us through the Service, you may review and update certain account information by logging into the account and navigating to the “Manage account” page.

Opt-out of communications. You may opt-out of marketing-related emails by following the opt-out or unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of the email, or by contacting us. Please note that if you choose to opt-out of marketing-related emails, you may continue to receive service-related and other non-marketing emails.

Blocking images/clear gifs. Most browsers and devices allow you to configure your device to prevent images from loading. To do this, follow the instructions in your particular browser or device settings.

Do Not Track. Some Internet browsers may be configured to send “Do Not Track” signals to the online services that you visit. We currently do not respond to “Do Not Track” signals. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” please visit .

Declining to provide information. We need to collect personal information to provide certain services. If you do not provide the information we identify as required or mandatory, we may not be able to provide those services.

Other sites and services

The Service may contain links to websites, mobile applications, and other online services operated by third parties. In addition, our content may be integrated into web pages or other online services that are not associated with us. These links and integrations are not an endorsement of, or representation that we are affiliated with, any third party. We do not control websites, mobile applications or online services operated by third parties, and we are not responsible for their actions. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of the other websites, mobile applications and online services you use.

Security

We employ a number of technical, organizational and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information we collect. However, security risk is inherent in all internet and information technologies and we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information.

International data transfer

We are headquartered in the United States and may use service providers that operate in other countries. Your personal information may be transferred to the United States or other locations where privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your state, province, or country.

Children

The Service is not intended for use by anyone under 18 years of age. If you are a parent or guardian of a child from whom you believe we have collected personal information in a manner prohibited by law, please contact us. If we learn that we have collected personal information through the Service from a child without the consent of the child’s parent or guardian as required by law, we will comply with applicable legal requirements to delete the information.

Changes to this Privacy Policy