WC3 Carbon App

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

  • WC3 is a professional-grade calculator designed for the civil and construction industry to quantify upfront embodied carbon. It covers the full A1-A5 lifecycle stages (Materials, Transport, and Construction) to provide a comprehensive "cradle-to-practical-completion" assessment.

  • A1-A5 are lifecycle stages for a construction project, as defined by international standards like EN 15978. They cover the "cradle-to-practical-completion" footprint of a project.

    A1-A3: Product Stage: Emissions from manufacturing all project materials.

    A4: Transport Stage: Emissions from transporting those materials to your site.

    A5: Construction Stage: Emissions from all on-site activities, such as running an excavator, paver, or site generator.

  • No, and this is a deliberate strategic choice. WC3 is a tool for Upfront Carbon (A1-A5), not a full lifecycle (A-D) assessment tool.

    Our purpose is to help you make immediate, high-impact decisions on the emissions you can control now (materials, transport, and construction). This focus on "upfront" emissions is critical for meeting immediate 2035/2050 climate targets, based upon current technologies and without speculating on future emission intensities.

    While full LCAs are important for other purposes, our app is a specialised design and refinement tool built to provide a clear assessment of the emissions being locked in by your project today.

  • Free: Our Free tier is currently offered as a Student plan for academic use. It provides the full A1-A5 calculation engine and the ability to import data from Civil Site Design or other WC3 project files. It is limited to 20 material inputs and 2 scenarios.

    Pro: Our Pro tier is the complete professional workflow. It unlocks unlimited cloud-based projects and scenarios, an AI-powered analysis of your results, and professional PDF reporting.

    30-Day Pro Trial: New users get a 30-day free trial with all Pro features, including cloud projects, AI analysis, and PDF reporting.

  • We offer a free version of the WC3 App for academic use. If you are a student or part of an academic institution, you may be eligible for an access code. Please contact us to request a code. You can enter your code by clicking the "Account" icon and then "Student Access."

Using the App

  • The feature is available in the December 2025 update to CSD. This is the fastest way to get started and is available on all plans, including the Free tier.

    1. In your Civil Site Design software, navigate to the Sectional Volumes window and ‘Outputs’.

    2. Click the Carbon Calculator “WC3 Export". This creates a .json file.

    3. In the WC3 App header, click the "Import Project" button. This will overwrite your current workspace.

    4. Select the .json file you just exported from CSD. The app will automatically populate all your project data.

  • Pro & Trial Users: Your work is automatically saved to the cloud as you go. You can manage all your saved projects from the "My Projects" button in the header.

    Student Users: You can save up to 2 "Scenarios" for comparison, which are stored in your browser. For permanent backups, you must use the "Export Project" button, which saves a .json file to your computer. You can re-import this file later using the "Import" button.

  • The A5 Construction Activities table is auto-calculated based on the data you enter in the A1-A3 Materials tab. For example, when you add a "Pipe" in the A1-A3 tab, a corresponding "Trenching" activity is automatically created in the A5 tab.

  • The calculator is "unit-aware." In the A4 (Transport) and A5 (Earthworks) tabs, you can select an Energy Source from the dropdown.

    If you select a source with litre units (like "Diesel Fuel"), the app runs the diesel calculation.

    If you select a source with kWh units (like "Electricity: NSW/ACT"), the app automatically switches to the electric calculation.

  • The main "Haulage & Disposal Variables" card is for your bulk materials (like aggregates, concrete, and spoil) whose total mass is automatically calculated from the A1-A3 tab.

    The "General & Site Haulage" table is for all other transport. You should use this table to manually add items like plant floats (e.g., floating an excavator to site) or any other movements that are not tied to a bulk material mass.

  • An EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) is a verified document that provides a specific material's carbon footprint. It is the most accurate data source. In any A1-A3 table, click the "EPD" button on a row to open the EPD modal. There, you can access a link to EPD Australasia’s database of EPDs, and then enter the specific factors from a product's EPD to override the app's default data.

  • A composite material is a custom mix you can create on the Data Sources tab. It's a powerful feature that lets you combine multiple base materials by their % by Volume (e.g., 97% Crushed Rock + 3% Cement) to create a new, reusable material.

    The app automatically calculates the blended density (t/m³) and EC factor (kgCO₂e/m³) for your new composite, allowing for highly accurate modeling of materials like reinforced concrete or stabilized pavement. Once saved, your composite appears in the "Custom Materials" group in your A1-A3 dropdowns.

Billing & Security

  • You can manage your Pro subscription at any time. Log in to the app, click the "Account" icon in the top-right header, and then click "Manage Subscription." This will open your secure Stripe customer portal, where you can update your payment method, view invoices, or cancel your plan.

  • You can cancel your Pro subscription at any time. When you cancel, your Pro plan will remain active until the end of your current billing period.

    For example, if your plan renews on the 20th of the month and you cancel on the 5th, you will still have Pro access for the next 15 days. You will not be charged again. We do not offer pro-rated refunds for partial billing periods.

  • On the main login screen, first enter your email address into the email field, then click the "Forgot your password?" link. You will be sent a secure email with instructions to create a new password for your account.

  • No. We never see or store your credit card information. All payments and subscription details are handled directly by Stripe, our industry-leading, PCI-compliant payment partner.

  • Yes. WC3 is built entirely on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) infrastructure, benefiting from the same security standards used by Google's own services.

    For Free/Student Plans: Your project data is stored locally in your browser's memory and is never transmitted to our cloud database.