How to use EC3 without treating every EPD as directly comparable

EC3 turns disclosure documents into decision data

Building Transparency describes EC3 as a free, open-access embodied-carbon accounting tool. It combines building material quantities with a digital database of third-party Environmental Product Declarations.

That structure supports two related tasks: comparing material options during specification and estimating potential or realised project embodied carbon. The result remains dependent on the project quantities and the scope of the underlying declarations.

Documented development: public launch and open scaling

Building Transparency records that EC3 launched publicly in 2019 through the Carbon Leadership Forum and more than fifty industry partners. The nonprofit Building Transparency was formed in 2020 to manage and scale the tool.

The history matters because EC3 is not a static product catalogue. Its value comes from data ingestion, validation, alignment and ongoing curation across many programme operators.

Present position: compliant EPDs can still use different data structures

In February 2026, Building Transparency explained that EPDs were usually written as standalone documents rather than database records. Programme operators may report global-warming-potential indicators differently—even when their declarations comply with the relevant standard.

EC3’s curation makes comparison more practical, but it does not erase category, unit, module, geography or methodological differences. The original EPD should remain available for the final technical decision.

• Compare like product categories and functions
• Match declared or functional units
• Check life-cycle modules and indicator definitions
• Review geography, production site and validity dates
• Carry the selected EPD into project documentation

The opportunity is better procurement, not an automatic winner

EC3 can move embodied carbon into early specification and procurement, where alternatives can still be considered. It can also help teams document potential and as-built project emissions.

Eight June’s interpretation is that the tool is strongest as a disciplined comparison environment. A lower displayed number is not automatically the best product once durability, maintenance, transport, code compliance, replacement and full project performance are included.