The contribution of ISO 14067 to the evolution of global greenhouse gas standards—A review

Due to the increasing recognition of global climate change, the building and construction industries are under pressure to reduce carbon emissions. A central issue in striving towards reduced carbon emissions is the need for a practicable and meaningful yardstick for assessing and communicating greenhouse gas (GHG) results. ISO 14067 was published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in May 2013. By providing specific requirements in the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach, the standard clarifies the GHG assessment in the aspects of choosing system boundaries and simulating use and end-of-life phases when quantifying carbon footprint of products (CFPs). More importantly, the standard, for the first time, provides a step-to-step guide and standardized template for communicating CFPs in the form of CFP external communication report, CFP performance tracking report, CFP declaration and CFP label. ISO 14067 therefore makes a valuable contribution to GHG quantification and transparent communication and comparison of CFPs. In addition, as cradle-to-grave should be used as the system boundary and end-of-life phases can be simulated, ISO 14067 will hopefully promote the development and implementation of simulation technologies, with Building Information Modelling (BIM) in particular, in the building and construction industries.