All three EU member states who participated in the INDICATE pilot have successfully reached the goal of compiling 50 real-world building case studies and consistent patterns and findings have been identified. However, the values differ due to variations in building practices, grid carbon intensity, assessment methods and data sources. Through expanding the sample sizes, improving data collection standards, refining associated templates and creating open and transparent infrastructure for data and analytics, more robust benchmarking efforts will be developed, ensuring more reliable and actionable insights. This aims to ensure a harmonised EU WLC approach through consistent methodologies, improving the comparability of WLC reporting and benchmarks. 

Obtaining the quantity and quality of accurate data to establish reliable benchmarks and target values remains a significant challenge due to no statutory requirements. The baselines developed in the INDICATE pilot are an initial reference point, which require additional case studies covering a representative sample of the national building stock. These LCA’s must use consistent background data and assumptions to ensure comparability. 

Emissions released during the production stage are the largest source of embodied carbon across the three member states and different building types (accounting for approximately 80% of total embodied carbon, meaning it is the most significant source of emissions for new constructions). Therefore, industry and policymakers should prioritise reducing these upfront emissions, in order to see the greatest decrease in emissions.