Barriers to whole-life carbon implementation in construction: A systematic literature review with Baltic regional contextualisation

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides an integrated socio-technical taxonomy of WLC barriers, useful for designing empirical studies in other regional contexts.

🏢実務担当者:Identifies actionable barriers (BIM-LCA interoperability, regulatory clarity) that construction firms can address to improve WLC assessment adoption.

🏛政策担当者:Highlights policy inconsistencies and data gaps that need coordinated action to enable effective WLC implementation.

The increasing significance of embodied emissions has shifted the focus of the construction sector from operational energy towards Whole-Life Carbon (WLC) assessment, which evaluates greenhouse gas emissions across the entire building life cycle. This transition is reinforced by recent European policy developments, including the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the Level(s) framework, and the EN 15978 standard. Despite methodological advancements and the growing integration of Building Information Modelling and Life Cycle Assessment (BIM-LCA), the practical implementation of WLC assessment remains inconsistent, particularly in smaller construction markets. This study investigates barriers to WLC implementation in the Baltic construction sector through a qualitative systematic literature review following the PRISMA 2020 framework. The review synthesises evidence from 58 peer-reviewed studies and 16 policy and institutional documents addressing WLC assessment, BIM-LCA integration, and regulatory frameworks. The findings identify three interrelated groups of barriers. Digital barriers include limited interoperability between BIM and LCA tools, fragmented data structures, and low levels of workflow automation. Policy barriers arise from inconsistencies in the interpretation and operationalisation of EPBD, Level(s), and EN 15978 requirements across national contexts, as well as limited availability of empirical data for benchmarking. Socio-cultural barriers, including skills gaps, institutional inertia, and cost-driven decision-making, further constrain the integration of WLC approaches into routine construction practice. The results indicate that WLC implementation is constrained not by isolated factors but by misalignment between digital capabilities, regulatory frameworks, and sectoral competencies. The study contributes by providing an integrated socio-technical perspective on WLC barriers in smaller construction markets and highlights the need for coordinated development of data infrastructures, methodological standards, and professional capacities to enable effective adoption.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2026.117927first seen 2026-07-31 05:24:19