The decarbonisation of the building sector has become a central priority within the European Union’s climate strategy. Buildings account for a significant share of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, making them a key focus for achieving climate neutrality by 2050. This lecture provides an overview of the policy and regulatory pathways that are shaping this transition in Europe, from the European Green Deal to more specific instruments such as the EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities and the recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). These frameworks are progressively introducing the concept of whole-life carbon as a key performance indicator for buildings. Within this context, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is emerging as the core methodological framework for quantifying environmental impacts across all life cycle stages. However, its effective implementation at scale requires not only methodological consistency but also robust data infrastructures capable of ensuring reliability, comparability, and transparency.

A central part of the lecture will present the results of the INDICATE Spain project (“The National LCA Accelerator”), recently completed in collaboration with the Spanish Government (Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda). The project has developed a national data infrastructure for building LCA, including harmonised datasets, calculation factors, and reference benchmarks for carbon emissions across life cycle stages. These results enable consistent assessment practices, support the development of regulatory frameworks, and provide a basis for benchmarking and decision-making in both design and policy contexts. Finally, the lecture will explore how digitalisation—through automated workflows, interoperable databases, and emerging tools such as digital product passports—can accelerate the integration of LCA into everyday practice, supporting the transition towards net-zero and climate-resilient buildings.

建筑行业脱碳已成为欧盟气候战略的重要议题。作为能源消耗和温室气体排放的重要来源，建筑行业脱碳是实现2050年碳中和目标的关键。本讲座将梳理欧洲建筑脱碳的政策与实现路径，重点介绍《欧洲绿色协议》欧盟可持续活动分美法及《建筑能效指令》(EPBD)修订等政策进展，并分析“全生命周期碳”如何成为建筑碳评价的重要指标。在此背景下，生命周期评价(LCA)正逐步成为衡量建筑环境影响的核心方法，其推广应用离不开统一的方法论与可靠的数据基础设施。讲座将结合西班牙INDICATE项目，介绍国家层面建筑LCA数据基础设施的最新成果，包括统一数据集、碳排放因子和基准值，并探讨其在环境评估、政策制定和设计决策中的作用。最后，讲座还将讨论数字化工具如何推动LCA融入建筑碳排放评估实践，助力建筑业零碳排放与气候韧性的协调发展。