IT sub-report on national methods

This report presents the Italian contribution to Deliverable 7.19 within the INDICATE LIFE project, with a specific focus on the development of a national methodological framework for assessing the Whole Life Carbon (WLC) of buildings in Italy. At the time of drafting this report, Italy does not have a harmonised national methodology for building-level Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and WLC evaluation. Existing practices are fragmented across regulatory instruments, voluntary initiatives, and sector-specific tools. Among the main national initiatives related to WLC-which constitute the background to this work and have involved, to varying extents, the partners of the LIFE INDICATE project-the following are particularly relevant: • The Minimum Environmental Criteria (CAM), developed within the Green Public Procurement framework and integrated into the Public Procurement Code, which establish mandatory environmental requirements and promote the integration of life cycle-based approaches in design and procurement processes, without, however, defining a harmonised methodology for WLC assessment. • The methodological framework promoted by GBC Italia and developed by Politecnico di Torino-DAD under the #BuildingLife initiative (“Tools for Decarbonisation”), which, while not legally binding, provides a structured technical basis for WLC assessment and has contributed to the development of a national roadmap for the decarbonisation of the building sector. In this context, and despite the progress made in integrating LCA into public procurement processes, the analysis highlights that: • No mandatory and standardised WLC methodology currently exists at the national level. • Existing regulatory instruments, including CAM, introduce life cycle-related requirements but do not define a comprehensive and harmonised methodological framework for WLC assessment at the building level. • Significant challenges remain in terms of data availability, methodological consistency, and practitioner capacity. In light of these findings, the report is structured around the following objectives: • To analyse the Italian regulatory and policy framework related to LCA and WLC in buildings. • To identify methodological gaps, inconsistencies, and barriers to implementation. • To develop a national-level methodological proposal for WLC assessment, aligned with Level(s), EN standards, and European decarbonisation targets.