Life Cycle Assessment (Embodied Carbon Management) and Resilience & Adaptation

Mantle Developments’ LCA services support sustainable procurement by quantifying the environmental impacts of different construction materials and systems. Our assessments equip clients with the data needed to make informed sourcing decisions—favoring lower-impact, responsibly sourced, and locally manufactured materials. For example, our work with the City of Toronto helped inform green procurement strategies by comparing carbon impacts across suppliers.

Our LCA models capture the benefits of recycled content in materials, enabling clients to evaluate and select products that incorporate recycled steel, aggregates, or other reclaimed components. Mantle’s comparative LCAs identify where recycled inputs provide meaningful embodied carbon reductions without compromising performance or cost.

Mantle’s LCA approach includes scenario analysis to assess how design choices, such as prefabrication or modular construction, impact construction waste. In parallel, we support project teams in developing Construction Waste Management Plans (CWMPs) that align with LEED and municipal requirements. We’ve also worked with manufacturers like Stubbe’s to model material efficiency gains and quantify waste diversion benefits associated with their systems.

Mantle’s LCAs evaluate both upstream impacts and on-site construction energy use, helping project teams identify strategies to reduce fuel consumption during the build phase. This includes assessing opportunities to electrify construction equipment, minimize temporary heating and hoarding loads, and shift away from fossil fuel-based practices where feasible. These insights support more energy-efficient construction methods—especially important for projects targeting low-carbon or net-zero construction phases.

Mantle includes water-related impact categories in our LCA reports, which can help teams compare material and construction options with lower water use during extraction, manufacturing, or on-site construction. This is particularly relevant in water-stressed regions or for projects pursuing water stewardship goals.

Mantle supports innovation by going beyond standard LCA requirements to integrate material optimization, carbon benchmarking, and emissions reduction roadmaps. For instance, we actively provide municipalities and developers with leading-edge strategies to go further and faster on emissions reduction.

Reducing embodied carbon is at the core of Mantle’s LCA practice. We help project teams identify hotspots, evaluate alternative materials or systems, and quantify emissions reductions. We have achieved 20% or more reductions in embodied carbon with some projects and continue to expand this work.

Mantle’s whole-building LCAs quantify both embodied and operational GHG emissions, supporting decision-making aligned with net-zero goals. Our assessments help clients reduce scope 3 emissions, meet regulatory benchmarks, and prepare for disclosure through platforms like GRESB and CDP.

In addition to greenhouse gases, our LCA models account for criteria air contaminants such as NOₓ, SO₂, and particulate matter. By identifying materials and systems with lower emissions profiles, we help clients reduce their project’s contribution to air pollution—supporting better public health outcomes and improved environmental quality.

Mantle supports climate adaptation and resilience across the infrastructure lifecycle, focusing on site selection and due diligence to avoid unsuitable development. We conduct early-stage hazard screenings, assess location-specific climate risks for sites, and develop risk reduction strategies for unavoidable hazard exposure. This helps ensure long-term resilience for infrastructure and the communities it serves.

Mantle assesses infrastructure systems for their ability to withstand current and future climate risks. We evaluate service continuity, impacts on communities, and exposure to chronic and acute hazards under various emissions scenarios. Using dependency modelling and causal chain analysis, we identify interconnected vulnerabilities, prioritize risks, and recommend targeted adaptation strategies to enhance resilience.

Mantle assesses infrastructure systems for their exposure to and ability to withstand current and future climate risks. We evaluate service continuity, impacts on communities, and exposure to chronic and acute hazards under various emissions scenarios. Using dependency modelling and causal chain analysis, we identify interconnected vulnerabilities and work to enhance resilience by recommending adaptation and risk reduction strategies.

Mantle helps clients define measurable, place-based resilience goals and co-develop adaptation strategies aligned with local circumstances and the organization’s priorities. We prioritize solutions that can be sustained over time, such as those that are community-led. Our process emphasizes community engagement when relevant, meaningful metrics, and ongoing monitoring, evaluation, and strategy refinement to address the most significant climate risks.

Mantle develops integrated resilience strategies that improve building and infrastructure performance under future climate conditions. This includes a variety of measures and planning to ensure assets can withstand, recover from, and adapt to disruptive events.

Our approach considers interdependencies between energy, water, mobility, and emergency services to support coordinated resilience planning. Our planning ensures the infrastructure functions as part of a cohesive network, maximizing long-term value, resilience, and integration with local goals.

Often, we find client’s climate objectives exceed what is prescribed by codes and standards. Mantle goes beyond minimum requirements by integrating physical climate risk, social vulnerability, and lifecycle emissions into a single lens.