Skip to content

Product Carbon Footprint

Product carbon footprint calculation helps to support your company’s research and development work, enabling you to optimize the most significant contributing factors of the production process, raw materials, and supply chain from a climate perspective. Carbon footprint results can also be employed in communication and marketing, showing potential and current customers the environmental performance of the product from the climate change perspective.

Product carbon footprint describes the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated throughout the product's life cycle. Carbon footprint calculation typically considers the entire life cycle of the product – from cradle to grave. It is also possible to narrow down the calculation to include, for example, only the climate impacts of the production and transportation of raw materials and the manufacture of the product.

In certain sectors, customers or even legislation require climate impact calculations. The purpose of the study typically determines the extent of the carbon footprint calculation, and our service can be tailored to very specific needs.

Our calculation methods ensure reliable results as the product carbon footprint calculation is guided by international standards: life cycle assessment (ISO 14040 and 14044) as well as product carbon footprint calculation (ISO 14067). The expertise of our professionals ensures you are guided toward the most suitable methods and guidelines, ensuring precision in every step.

Carbon handprint describes the positive climate impacts of using the product

Do your products reduce the climate impacts of your customers compared to currently used alternatives? With our carbon handprint calculation, you can find out the positive climate impacts of your product. Carbon handprint is formed if the product reduces the user's carbon footprint, for example by saving energy or having a longer lifetime than conventional or currently used products.

Carbon handprint is calculated by comparing the carbon footprints of the baseline solution and the solution under consideration. Thus, both carbon footprint and handprint of a product are calculated in the carbon handprint study.

The results of the carbon handprint calculation can be used for marketing and communications, informing and advising decision-makers and other stakeholders, and identifying opportunities to improve the environmental performance of products used by customers. Via carbon handprint study, you can point out the emission reduction gained by a customer using your product or solution, instead of presenting the generated harm (i.e. caused greenhouse gas emissions), that is usually presented as carbon footprint results.

We also calculate the carbon footprint of buildings

Through the carbon footprint calculation of a building, we provide information about the climate impacts of a building in various stages of its life cycle. The stages included in the calculation are the product stage, construction stage, use stage, and the end-of-life stage (deconstruction). Additional information derived from the calculation includes the building's carbon handprint. The carbon handprint describes the climate benefits that can be achieved throughout the building's life cycle.

The results of the carbon footprint calculation of a building can be utilized to support planning and low-carbon construction, for instance, in supplier selection, material choices, and deciding construction methods. The results can also be presented on building element level, thereby identifying the most significant contributors to the environmental impacts. This approach enables prioritization of low-carbon measures for critical elements to reduce environmental burden.

Preliminary carbon footprint calculation is typically carried out during the project planning phase, where a carbon budget is established. In later design phases, the calculation is refined to identify emission reduction opportunities, guiding the design process to achieve set goals and carbon budget. The calculations during the use and maintenance stages allow verification of reached objectives and desired carbon footprint level.

We carry out carbon footprint calculation of a building by employing the methodology required in a specific context (e.g., environmental certifications such as RTS, BREEAM, and LEED). We possess experience in carbon footprint assessments in accordance with the European standard (EN 15978:2011) as well as the Ministry of the Environment’s low-carbon assessment method for buildings and the European LEVEL(S) framework. We conduct carbon footprint calculations tailored to your preferences throughout different phases of the construction project.

Ask our expert a question

Antti T Niskanen

Director, Life Cycle Assessment

Mandatory field

When you submit this form, our specialist will be in touch with you by email or telephone. By submitting the form you accept our privacy statement.