Upfront Embodied Carbon for Carbon-Neutral Buildings: Trends and Analysis of Domestic and International Standards and Certification Systems

This structured narrative review examines how building-level calculation methods, product data and assessment results are connected in embodied-carbon certification and regulation. Upfront embodied carbon is defined by modules A1–A5; whole-life instruments are included as institutional comparators. The comparison distinguishes method linkage, product-data requirements and the use of results, because standardized calculation and certification scoring can coexist. Denmark and France apply statutory carbon limits, but their module coverage, floor-area definitions and metrics differ. Sweden requires climate declarations, while the EU has established future reporting obligations and national limit-value roadmaps. In Korea, G-SEED provides a voluntary life-cycle assessment credit and refers to international standards, and a product-level environmental product declaration scheme is available. However, the reviewed instruments do not establish a common mandatory building-level embodied-carbon reporting and limit-value framework. These findings support developing a shared national calculation method and improving product data in parallel, followed by disclosure and benchmark development before quantitative limits are considered. The study compares institutional arrangements rather than ranking national emission values.