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ISO 14044

ISO 14044, developed by the International Organization for Standardization, sets out the requirements and guidelines for conducting Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

The standard provides a structured methodology for assessing the environmental impacts of products, materials, and systems across their entire lifecycle. This includes raw material extraction, manufacturing, transport, construction, operation, and end of life stages.

ISO 14044 is widely used across construction and manufacturing industries to support robust and transparent environmental analysis. It ensures that assessments are consistent, comparable, and based on clearly defined system boundaries and data assumptions.

In the context of construction, ISO 14044 underpins many carbon calculation methodologies and is closely linked to Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). As sustainability and net zero targets become increasingly important, the standard plays a critical role in enabling accurate and credible carbon assessments.


Key Highlights

  • International standard for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

  • Covers environmental impacts across full lifecycle stages

  • Supports consistent and transparent carbon analysis

  • Underpins Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)

  • Widely used across construction, manufacturing, and infrastructure

  • Enables data driven sustainability decision making


ISO 14044 aligns directly with Sterling’s approach to integrating carbon estimating into construction workflows through a structured and data driven methodology.

Sterling enables organisations to apply LCA principles at a practical level during estimating and cost planning. Key areas of alignment include:

  • Embodied carbon estimating, aligned to lifecycle stages such as A1 to A5 and beyond

  • Integration of cost and carbon, supporting dual currency estimating

  • Use of EPD data, integrated via platforms such as EC3 and 2050 Materials

  • Lifecycle modelling, linking early estimates to operational and end of life impacts

  • Consistent data structures, supporting transparent and auditable carbon calculations

  • Benchmarking opportunities, enabling comparison of environmental performance across projects

By combining ISO 14044 principles with Sterling’s SaaS platform, organisations can move from high level carbon assumptions to detailed, standards aligned carbon estimating embedded within everyday project workflows.


Access ISO 14044 via the International Organization for Standardization: https://www.iso.org/standard/37456.html

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ISO