Co-developed with the Materials & Embodied Carbon Leaders’ Alliance (MECLA), tailored for the Australian built environment.
Overview
Concrete is the most widely used construction material in Australia and a significant source of embodied carbon.
To help industry stakeholders reduce emissions and make informed choices, LCMH and MECLA have co-developed a Concrete Products Benchmark, tailored specifically to the Australian context.
This benchmark offers a dual-layered framework for assessing and comparing the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of concrete products using verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).
It includes:
LCMH’s Live Benchmark (LCMH Rating) – a dynamic, percentile-based market benchmark.
MECLA’s Classification – a stable reference baseline guidance, grounded in global best practices and adapted for Australia.
Both the LCM Rating and MECLA Classification are segmented by concrete strength class.
At this stage, they do not account for other concrete characteristics such as application (e.g. foundations, slabs), production method (e.g. ready-mix, precast), or performance attributes beyond compressive strength (e.g. durability, workability).
LCMH Live Benchmark (LCMH Rating)
The LCMH Live Benchmark is a percentile-based rating system that reflects the actual performance of available concrete products in the Australian market.
It is based on the Low Carbon Concrete Group (LCCG) market benchmark approach in the UK.
The benchmark is continuously updated using LCMH’s database of concrete EPDs, covering a wide range of suppliers, mix designs, and geographic locations.
LCMH Rating Bands
LCM-1: 0–20th percentile - Market-leading low carbon concrete
LCM-2: 20–40th percentile - Better than average performance
LCM-3: 40–60th percentile - Market average
LCM-4: 60–80th percentile - Higher-than-average GWP
LCM-5: 80–100th percentile - High GWP impact concrete
MECLA’s Concrete Classification
MECLA’s classification system offers a baseline reference for industry and government to understand and set embodied carbon targets.
It is based on the Embodied Carbon Classification Scheme for Concrete developed in the UK and adapted to Australia’s standards and context.
It provides clear thresholds for A-F concrete classifications to support policy development, procurement frameworks, and specification guidance.
National & State-Level Data
The benchmark provides both national and state-level GWP performance distributions for each strength class:
National Data is the default display, showing the full Australian market range
State-Level Data can be viewed by selecting a state on the interactive map
Both LCMH Ratings and MECLA’s Classifications are developed at the national level. All state-level results are compared against these national benchmark bands, ensuring consistency and comparability across regions.
Downloadable Benchmark Charts & Tables
All benchmark visuals and data tables are available for download as PDF files, including:
National benchmark
State-level benchmarks
LCMH Rating percentile tables
MECLA classification tables
Note on Versioning: The LCMH Rating is a live benchmark and automatically updates as new EPDs are added to our database. Please record the download date as your benchmark version reference. This ensures clarity when comparing across projects or over time.
