Cross Sector
Problem Overview: Quantifying, measuring and reducing embodied and operational carbon at design stage
As India's floor space is projected to double in the next two decades, emissions from the built environment are expected to rise. Current Indian policies primarily target reducing operational carbon, but addressing embodied carbon across the building lifecycle is equally crucial for comprehensive decarbonisation of the sector. On the other hand, building sustainability in India is being asked for by multiple stakeholders. MNCs setting up offices in India are keen to occupy premises with sustainability ratings to fulfill their global net-zero commitments which incentivises developers to incur higher capex. As the financial premium for green assets becomes visible in rental data, institutional capital is demanding sustainability data as part of underwriting. Design stage decisions made by architects in the first 10-15% of the project timeline require a fast, reliable, India-calibrated way to estimate the carbon impact of design alternatives.
Core Bottlenecks: Lack of clear metrics & accurate performance modeling
1. No National EPD Database
There is no BIS-administered or government-endorsed national database of EPDs for Indian construction materials. When an Indian architect/engineer wants to calculate a building's embodied carbon today, they must either use generic international databases (Ecoinvent, ICE (UK's Inventory of Carbon and Energy), or the GaBi database) or make assumptions.
2. Lack of Standardized LCA
There is no codified Indian standard for how a WBLCA (Whole Building Life Cycle Analysis) should be conducted which incorporates what system boundaries to use, which lifecycle stages to include, which impact categories to report, how to handle end-of-life.
3. India specific emission factors
Even for operational carbon emissions, India lacks standardised, regularly updated regional grid emission factors at the granularity needed for building energy modelling.
Existing Approaches and Technology Readiness
WBLCA and EPD generation
Calculates the total environmental footprint of a building or product across its entire lifespan (India is still TRL 7)
Energy modelling automation
Used for energy optimization, daylight analysis, and HVAC sizing during the early design phases (India is still TRL 7)
Commercialised globally but indigenous approaches are still to be built
Where is the white-space for innovation?
The data and modelling gap for green buildings in India requires a lot of missing pieces of the puzzle to be filled: national EPD database with India-specific verified emission factors, standardised WBLCA methodology adapted to Indian practice, BIM-to-carbon integration in mainstream Indian architectural workflows, carbon benchmarking data at the building portfolio level and LCA-trained practitioners. There is a need for innovation on the engineering front:
Engineering Innovation
Building a smart platform which can integrate sustainability design choices/alternatives including EPD declarations and LCAs as well as integrate to standard certifications.
How we identify climate innovation opportunities?
- IEA data
- IECC and UC Berkeley working paper
- Elnagar, E., et al. (2023). A comprehensive scouting of space cooling technologies in Europe: Key characteristics and development trends. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 186, 113636.
- India’s journey towards sustainable building cooling
- Calculated based on energy efficiency savings and material cost savings
- Calculated based on assumptions on penetration of data infrastructure and attribution of emissions saved to data modelling
Last Updated On: June 5, 2026
Economic Potential
- India, 2025537Mn USD[5]
- India, 2030918Mn USD
- Global, 202521000Mn USD[5]
Impact Potential
- India, 202528 Mn Mt CO2e[6]
- India, 2030130 Mn Mt CO2e
- Global, 2025660 Mn Mt CO2e[6]
Water
Air Pollution
Access to Finance
p-ARL Score
10/12
Spotlight for innovation in India
Research
TERI: Designed GRIHA; Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Habitat works on modelling
IIHS: Urban Informatics Lab (models urban growth and environmental sustainability)
Automated building sustainability platform and marketplace with green certification integration