Cradle-to-Grave
Cradle-to-grave is a lifecycle boundary covering all emissions from raw material extraction through manufacturing, distribution, product use, and end-of-life disposal or recycling.
What is Cradle-to-Grave?
Cradle-to-grave (or “whole life”) assessment captures the complete carbon footprint of a product or building across its entire lifecycle. For buildings, this is increasingly required by planning authorities and green building schemes. For products, it aligns with the ISO 14067 and GHG Protocol Product Standard approach to Product Carbon Footprints. The use phase and end-of-life can be significant — particularly for energy-consuming products where operational emissions dwarf manufacturing emissions.
Practical Examples
A whole-life carbon assessment of a commercial building shows that operational carbon accounts for 55% and embodied carbon 45% of the 60-year lifecycle total.
An appliance manufacturer’s cradle-to-grave PCF shows that the use phase (electricity consumption) accounts for 80% of the product’s total lifecycle emissions.
How Climatise Helps
Climatise supports whole-life carbon assessments by integrating embodied carbon data with operational energy and emissions tracking.
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