The future of carbon data: using AI to scale sustainable construction

This webinar with Causeway and 2050 Materials explored how emerging technology – especially AI – is changing the way construction firms account for and reduce carbon.

Hosted by Isabelle Gough, Product Manager for CausewayOne Carbon, and joined by Phanos Hadjikyriakou, CEO of 2050 Materials, the session tackled the challenges of carbon data, the promise of AI, and what it all means for sustainability in construction  

Understanding construction data: not just a technology problem

Construction data is fundamentally just information about what happens on a project – what was specified, procured, delivered and built. The issue is that this data comes in wildly different formats, from handwritten notes and spreadsheets to fully modelled BIM environments.

This creates a significant challenge for sustainability professionals: how do you make sense of such varied data to drive better decisions? The answer lies in structuring and contextualising it so that it becomes useful. But this can’t happen without first understanding the full range of stakeholders who create and use the data, from site managers and quantity surveyors to sustainability consultants.

Making sustainability data useful

Contextualising data is key to unlocking its value. AI can play a crucial role here by:

• Categorising and enriching procurement data with carbon factors
• Matching material records to verified databases
• Identifying carbon hotspots and suggesting lower-carbon alternatives

This allows consultants to focus less on formatting data and more on interpreting it. The goal isn’t for AI to replace humans, but to scale up their ability to act on data insights.

“What we want to do is analyse the data rather than structure it, go through line by line, categorise, do all of these kind of knife and fork data solutions.”

Isabelle Gough, Product Owner, Causeway Technologies

Human input still matters

While AI can automate many tasks, the human role in sustainability remains vital. Projects are full of competing priorities – carbon, cost, fire safety, aesthetics – and these trade-offs require experience and judgement.

AI should support, not replace, that process. By taking on repetitive tasks, it frees professionals to do what they do best: make informed, strategic decisions that reflect project realities.

EPDs: A valuable but imperfect tool

Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are core to most carbon tools, offering verified environmental data on construction materials. However:

• They are time-consuming and expensive to produce
• Users often focus on a single figure (carbon factor), overlooking valuable information
• Growing demand is leading to some low-quality, fast-tracked EPDs

AI can help here too, by extracting insights from complex documents quickly. Communities like EPD Radar are emerging to crowdsource quality control and keep standards high.

Mapping, transparency and auditability

Matching real-world procurement data with carbon factors – often called mapping – is a significant challenge. AI can automate much of this, but trust is key.

Carbon tools must:

• Offer clear audit trails for how each figure was derived
• Document assumptions and data sources
• Avoid becoming “black boxes”

Doing this well not only supports accurate reporting but creates a blueprint for applying similar methods to other performance criteria such as cost, fire safety and health.

Carbon as a catalyst for wider improvement

Carbon reporting is a relatively new requirement, meaning workflows can be rethought from the ground up. If we get it right, this could transform how construction projects optimise:

• Materials
• Environmental impacts
• Compliance
• Total project performance

By starting with carbon, we can build smarter systems that benefit the entire project lifecycle.

“Carbon is sort of, in a way, a Trojan horse in the construction industry... Here's how we fix it for carbon. Now let's apply it to a bunch of other things.”

Phanos Hadjikyriakou, CEO & Founder, 2050 Materials

Final thoughts

The construction industry doesn’t yet have all the answers, but the pace of change is accelerating. To keep up, we must:

• Combine AI with expert judgement
• Prioritise transparency and auditability
• Move beyond compliance to proactive decarbonisation

Causeway and 2050 Materials are investing in this future – building tools, partnerships and communities that make sustainable construction a practical reality, not just a policy target.

For more detailed insight on this topic, check out the on-demand webinar here  or talk to our experts about how CausewayOne Carbon can transform your reporting.