TOTEM · LCA

Measure your environmental impact.

TOTEM is the official Belgian LCA-instrument for calculating the environmental impact of buildings. From 2028, it will become a mandatory step for many building permits in Belgium.

As TOTEM experts, we offer comprehensive impact calculations for buildings, building elements and construction materials, be it as a decision support during design, as mandatory reporting or as part of BREEAM or GRO certification.

LCA-study in TOTEM

We perform a full life cycle assessment of your building, from the production of its materials to their end of life. The scope of the study is flexible, and can encompass comparison between building elements or different scenarios.

from€2,000excl. VAT

Request an LCA study

What you receive

Concrete data for design optimisation

Carbon emissions, milliPoints, embodied energy, you name it. Our rigorous LCA-study provides you with the data you need to make the right decisions.

Analysis of variants & scenarios

Element comparisons and scenario analysis are crucial decision-making tools. We ensure that design variants are calculated and compared on equal basis.

Certification-ready output

In case of BREEAM or GRO, we deliver the calculation results in the appropriate formats and guide you towards the best possible score.

High-quality report

Our LCA-reports are high-quality, didactic and transparent. As a bonus, every calculation receives concrete recommendations for impact optimisation.

The stakes

Measure your impact over the full life cycle.

An LCA study encompasses a building's impact over the whole life cycle: production, transport, installation, maintenance and end of life. It helps us understand where the biggest impacts are situated, which building elements contribute most, and how the impacts are distributed over the life cycle: crucial insights for any impact-oriented design approach.

The right strategy at the right moment.

Different stages in a construction process ask for different approaches to the LCA-analysis. Thanks to TOTEM's versatility, we can help you tailor the impact calculations to your specific design stage and questions to get relevant answers.

Show your achievements.

In a rapidly shifting sector, those who are best at showing their achievements have the biggest advantage. Get the most out of your sustainability efforts by underpinning your actions with concrete LCA data to support them.

The steps

Client input

Based on the type of study you will be asked to provide the necessary information for the model. For a typical building-level, we will need the design plans, bill of quantities and EPB-files.

Modelling in TOTEM

We carefully model your entire building or building elements in TOTEM, based on the best available data. Variants are modelled and compared on the same basis and on the same set of assumptions.

The report

You receive a high-quality report describing the modelling methodology, calculation results, interpretation and a set of design recommendations. In case of certification (BREEAM, GRO) you receive all necessary deliverables.

The method

We help you move from data to action.

Our mission is to accelerate the sector's transition to low-impact construction methods. We therefore craft our reports with care to make sure their conclusions are accessible, nuanced and ready to be converted into action. Just like in EPB-reports, we point you to some key strategies to further optimise your impact, including circular and biobased materials.

TOTEM-calculations are based on the EN15978 harmonised standard and the national B-EPD rules.

If you want to fully explore the sustainable choices at your disposal, or technical guidance for their implementation, check out our project support.

See the project study