Barnsley’s Whole Life Carbon Policy: What Manufacturers Need
Barnsley is moving Whole Life Carbon from nice-to-have to must-file. If your products land in major projects here, design teams will need credible embodied carbon data early, not after tender. That makes product-specific EPDs the fast pass into specs, while generic or no data risks worst‑case assumptions and lost margin.
What just changed in Barnsley
Barnsley Council is consulting on an update to its Local Validation Checklist that would require a Whole Life Carbon (WLC) assessment for all major developments. The trigger is clear: 10 or more homes, or non‑residential schemes of 1,000 m² or more must submit WLC at planning, alongside an energy and sustainability statement that targets BREEAM Very Good for non‑residential (Barnsley Council Draft Local Validation Checklist, 2025). The draft points to the RICS Whole Life Carbon methodology and EN 15978 for calculation and reporting.
Why this matters commercially
Decision makers increasingly compare products on carbon the same way they compare price and lead time. Globally, buildings drive about 34% of energy and process‑related CO2 emissions, so carbon is now a budget line, not a footnote (GlobalABC Buildings‑GSR, 2025). In the UK, the buildings and product uses sector accounted for roughly 20% of territorial emissions in 2023, keeping carbon scrutiny high in planning and procurement (DESNZ, 2025).
Where EPDs plug into WLC
A WLC assessment rolls up impacts across A1 to C4. Your product‑specific EPD is the most defensible input for A1 to A3 and often informs A4 and A5. Without it, assessors default to conservative datasets, which can make a compliant scheme look non‑compliant on paper. An EPD is the difference between being counted precisely and being rounded up.
The rules of the road in practice
Barnsley’s draft expects WLC to follow the RICS professional statement and EN 15978. That means consistent system boundaries, declared units that match the bill of quantities, plus transparent assumptions for transport, wastage, and end‑of‑life. If your EPD uses a different declared unit than specifiers need, provide a conversion note with clear factors. Small clarity saves big rework later.
What design teams will ask you for
Be ready to deliver a concise carbon pack that drops straight into the WLC model:
- Product‑specific, third‑party verified EPDs with declared unit and system boundary
- Plant location and typical transport modes to site for A4 estimates
- Packaging, on‑site wastage assumptions, and installation consumables for A5
- Service life assumptions and maintenance profile if relevant to B modules
- End‑of‑life pathways, recyclability, and take‑back options aligned to C modules
Timing and renewals
Planning submissions run on hard deadlines. If your EPD is months from expiring, say so and share the renewal timeline. Most buyers focus on validity, not vintage, but an expiry inside a live planning window is avoidable friction. There’s alot of avoidable friction, honestly.
If you do not have EPDs yet
Start with your volume lines and the SKUs most often specified in non‑residential shells or big residential blocks. Those are the ones that swing a Barnsley WLC result and get flagged by cost consultants. Pick a program operator recognized across the UK and EU so your declarations travel well across regional bids.
A quick benchmark to frame the ask
When a council requires WLC at validation, design teams must evidence material choices, not just intentions. The sector’s share of global emissions and the UK buildings slice explain why this is happening and why product data wins or loses specs at the gate. Use that context to align budgets internally and move carbon work from ad‑hoc to planned cadence (GlobalABC Buildings‑GSR, 2025) (UNEP, 2025), (DESNZ, 2025) (DESNZ, 2025).
Barnsley specifics worth noting
The consultation window ran from 12 December 2025 to 5 January 2026, and once adopted the checklist will replace the 2023 version. The draft explicitly states: a Whole Life Carbon Assessment is required for all major developments and should follow the RICS model, with energy statements mapping reductions against an efficiency‑first hierarchy (Barnsley Council Draft Local Validation Checklist, 2025) (Barnsley Council, 2025).
Make Barnsley a repeatable play
Treat Barnsley as a template for other UK authorities expanding WLC requirements. Build a reusable data room, align EPD declared units to the quantities cost consultants actually use, and pre‑agree transport and wastage assumptions by product family. That turns each new WLC request from scramble to send.
Frequently Asked Questions
What projects in Barnsley will require a Whole Life Carbon assessment?
Major developments only. Residential schemes of 10 or more dwellings and non‑residential schemes of 1,000 m² or more must submit WLC at validation if the draft checklist is adopted (Barnsley Council Draft Local Validation Checklist, 2025).
Which methodology does Barnsley expect WLC assessments to follow?
The draft points to the RICS Whole Life Carbon professional statement and EN 15978 for calculation and reporting conventions (Barnsley Council Draft Local Validation Checklist, 2025).
Do EPDs guarantee a lower WLC score?
No. EPDs do not guarantee a lower result, but they prevent conservative default factors from being applied and let your actual process efficiencies be counted.
Are older but valid EPDs acceptable for planning?
Yes, provided they remain in force through the planning window. Plan renewals early to avoid rework if a declaration would lapse mid process.
About the Author
Walker Ryan is a climate-tech entrepreneur focused on driving industrial decarbonization through better data. As the founder and CEO of Parq, he helps manufacturers generate high-quality, third-party–verified carbon disclosures at scale—accelerating a traditionally slow and expensive process. Before starting Parq, Walker led over $200 million in sustainability-focused investments as VP of Strategy & Growth at ReStream Solutions, following earlier experience in investment banking at Deutsche Bank. He brings a rare mix of capital markets expertise and hands-on sustainability knowledge to tackling the infrastructure of industrial emissions.
