Methodology

EcoWave.Green – METHODOLOGY

Reviewed: 11 Aug 2025
Next review due: 11 Aug 2026
Methodology version: 1.0
GWP basis: IPCC AR6 (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – Sixth Assessment Report), 100 year

PURPOSE & SCOPE

We publish transparent, reproducible methods for green infrastructure analytics and tools across Australasia. Scope includes carbon accounting (operational and embodied), climate and hazard analytics, and calculator assumptions. Methods align to ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and EN (European Standard) building assessment norms, with local guidance overlays.

EVIDENCE & SOURCE HIERARCHY

1) Primary government datasets (top tier)

• Australia: BoM (Bureau of Meteorology) climate series; GA (Geo science Australia) hazard layers.
• New Zealand: NIWA (National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research) climate records; Stats NZ (Statistics New Zealand) environmental indicators.

2) International & regional standards

• ISO 14040/44 (Life Cycle Assessment), ISO 14067 (product carbon footprint).
• EN 15804+A2 (EPD – Environmental Product Declaration core rules), ISO 21930 (EPD for construction), EN 15978 (building whole life assessment).

3) National emission factor guidance

• Australia: NGA (National Greenhouse Accounts) Factors by DCCEEW (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water).
• New Zealand: “Measuring Emissions” by MfE (Ministry for the Environment).
• GWP (Global Warming Potential): IPCC AR6, 100 year unless stated otherwise.

4) Programme rules for EPDs

• EPD Australasia GPIs (General Programme Instructions) and applicable PCRs (Product Category Rules).

5) Codes & rating systems (cross walks)

• NCC (National Construction Code) by ABCB (Australian Building Codes Board); NZ Building Code (MBIE Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment).
• Where relevant, cross walk results to Green Star (GBCA Green Building Council of Australia), NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System), Homestar (NZGBC New Zealand Green Building Council), and IS Rating (ISC Infrastructure Sustainability Council).

DATA PIPELINE & QUALITY ASSURANCE

• Acquisition & provenance: Direct downloads/APIs from custodians; every dataset recorded with source URL, version/date, and license.
• Normalisation & units: SI units; currency/year normalisation; geospatial reference; temporal alignment; electricity factors by jurisdiction/year.
• Quality checks: Schema validation; outlier tests; cross-source reconciliation; calculators use unit tests and regression checks.
• Versioning: Semantic versioning for methods and tools; each article displays “Reviewed on” and “Next review due”.

CARBON ACCOUNTING METHODS

A) Operational emissions (Scopes 1 – 3) (GHG = Greenhouse Gas)

• Boundaries follow the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard; Scope 2 is reported per market and location based guidance.
• Emission factors: AU uses NGA Factors (DCCEEW); NZ uses MfE “Measuring Emissions”. Unless stated, IPCC AR6 GWP-100.

B) Embodied carbon (products & materials)

• Prefer verified EPDs (EN 15804 / ISO 21930). If no EPD exists, estimate via ISO 14067 aligned LCA and document assumptions.
• Declare modules A1 – A3 (product), A4 – A5 (construction), B (use), C (end of life), and D (beyond the system boundary) where available.

C) Whole life carbon (WLCA Whole Life Carbon Assessment)

• Building level reporting aligned to EN 15978; structure per RICS WLCA (2nd ed.).
• Present uncertainty ranges and sensitivity tests (e.g., grid mix, transport, end of life credits).

CLIMATE & HAZARD METHODOLOGY

• Historical climate: Station based observations (BoM, NIWA); coverage and homogenization notes included.
• Projections: NZ National Climate Projections dataset with documented scenario choices.
• Flood & hydrology: ARR (Australian Rainfall & Runoff) 2019/4.2 guidance for design flood characteristics; track climate chapter updates.
• Natural hazards: GA hazard products (earthquake, cyclone/severe wind, flood); note update cadence.
• Limitations: Spatial/temporal resolution, model uncertainty, and local calibration caveats.

CALCULATORS & TOOLS

• Assumptions & defaults: Listed per tool (jurisdiction, year, included modules, transport distances, replacement cycles).
• Validation & testing: Cross checks against published examples; unit tests; numeric sanity ranges.
• Release management: Each tool shows version, change log, and validation date.

EDITORIAL & REVIEW PROCESS

• Roles & independence: Author internal QA (when applicable) independent domain expert review.
• Review cadence: Annual or on major source updates (e.g., new NGA Factors, MfE guide, ARR, or rating tool revisions).
• Corrections policy: Readers can request corrections; material changes are recorded in the public change log.

LICENSING & REUSE

Follow the license terms of each source (e.g., Creative Commons where specified). Attribute source custodians and cite EcoWave.Green when reusing our text or figures.

CHANGE LOG

• 2025 – 08-11 Initial publication of Methodology v1.0; IPCC AR6 GWP 100 adopted site wide.

GLOSSARY (Acronyms)

EPD (Environmental Product Declaration); PCR (Product Category Rules); LCA (Life Cycle Assessment);
WLCA (Whole Life Carbon Assessment); GWP (Global Warming Potential); GHG (Greenhouse Gas);
ISO (International Organization for Standardization); EN (European Standard);
NCC (National Construction Code); ABCB (Australian Building Codes Board);
MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment); GBCA (Green Building Council of Australia);
NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System); NZGBC (New Zealand Green Building Council);
ISC (Infrastructure Sustainability Council); BoM (Bureau of Meteorology);
NIWA (National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research); Stats NZ (Statistics New Zealand);
GA (Geoscience Australia); DCCEEW (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water);
NGA (National Greenhouse Accounts); ARR (Australian Rainfall & Runoff);
IPCC AR6 (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — Sixth Assessment Report).

Contact

Questions about methods or data? Contact the EcoWave.Green team.

KEY REFERENCES / LINKS (CITATIONS)