Carbon Designer 3D is a tool that allows you to quickly create building designs and calculate their carbon footprint. It's great for early-stage design exploration and detailed analysis. Learn more about Carbon Designer 3D and its various use-cases in the One Click LCA Academy CD3D Mini Course.
Latest Updates
In February 2025, major updates to Carbon Designer 3D were made, significantly improving performance and updating its user interface. Additionally, the update focuses on aligning Carbon Designer 3D calculations with regular tool calculations for greater accuracy and consistency.
Key calculation improvements include:
More accurate calculations: Calculations will now better align with project LCA parameter settings for all public constructions, ensuring data consistency across the platform. This is relevant for public constructions included in the building frame and in templates.
Alignment for "GLA/RICS" tools: Biogenic carbon balancing in total figures will be updated, particularly affecting wood-containing products.
Alignment for "DGNB DK" tool: The calculation methodology will be updated to ensure consistency with the regular tool's default DGNB methodology.
Identical impacts between Carbon Designer 3D and generated designs: Results from Carbon Designer 3D designs and converted regular designs will be nearly identical across almost all tools.
Existing Design Updates and Undesired Changes
These calculation updates will only affect results in existing designs if they are edited and resaved after the release. To avoid unexpected calculation updates in the pre-existing designs, avoid editing them after the update.
How Carbon Designer 3D works
If your One Click LCA license includes Carbon Designer 3D, you'll find it in most projects. However, it's not compatible with every tool, such as the Interior design carbon tool.
Select Carbon Designer 3D
In your project, click the 'Carbon Designer 3D' button and choose the compatible tool you want to use from the dropdown menu.
Create a design
You can either create a new design from scratch or compare up to four existing designs. To start fresh, click 'Create a Design'.
Set project parameters
Provide some basic information about your building:
Design Name: Give your design a descriptive name.
Reference Building: Choose the relevant reference building.
Gross Floor Area (GFA): Enter the total floor area of your design.
Calculation Period: Specify the timeframe for the analysis.
Click 'Next' to proceed.
Next, select the type of building you're creating (e.g., office, residential, school) and click 'Next' again.
Define the scope
Specify the scope of your analysis:
Building Parts: Select the elements you want to include in the assessment.
Floors: Indicate the number of above-ground and underground (heated or unheated) floors.
Structural Frame: Choose the primary structural system for your building.
You can also add details like piling length (visual only) and soil stabilization for a more comprehensive analysis.
Calculate the geometry
Now you can define the building's dimensions and visualize your design in 3D.
Adjust Dimensions: Modify the editable building dimensions to see how changes affect the 3D model and the carbon footprint.
Explore the 3D Model: Click and drag to rotate the model, scroll to zoom, and use the transparency bar to adjust the model's visual clarity.
Once you're satisfied with the dimensions, click 'Calculate areas'.
Modify and submit
After calculating the areas, you can further refine the building structure and dimensions. Remember to recalculate the areas after any adjustments. When you're ready, click 'Submit' to generate the initial results.
Review initial results
The Carbon Designer 3D main page will display the results for your design, labeled as your baseline. You can view the carbon footprint breakdown by element, material, classification, or see the total kg CO2e.
Click 'Carbon view' on the 3D model to visualize the carbon impact of different building elements, with colors representing their contribution to the overall emissions.
Adjust building elements
Fine-tune your design by modifying the materials and quantities used for each building element:
Replace Elements: Swap out entire elements, like changing the floor slab type.
Adjust Quantities: Modify the quantities or percentages of specific materials within elements.
Add New Resources: Include custom materials or constructions from the dropdown menu.
Copying and comparing designs
To explore different design options, you can copy your baseline design and make adjustments.
Copy Design
Click the three dots in the building elements section or on the 3D model to copy the design.
Compare Designs
The Carbon Designer main page will display a comparison of up to four designs. Modify elements in each design to see the immediate impact on the carbon footprint.
Saving designs
To save your work:
Save to Project: Click the three dots in the top right corner of the 3D model and select 'Save design to project'.
Choose Save Options: Decide whether to save to an existing design, create a new one, merge data, or overwrite existing information.
Convert to Regular Designs: Ensure you convert all the Carbon Designer 3D designs you want to keep, as unsaved data will be lost when you exit.
If you are looking for how to create Carbon Designer 3D Templates, please check the following article: Carbon Designer 3D Templates.
Availability
Carbon Designer 3D is available as part of certain One Click LCA licenses. To find out more or to request a demonstration.