Total Carbon Analysis

What is Total Carbon Analysis?

The Total Carbon Analysis tool runs an early-stage total carbon analysis to understand the embodied and operational carbon impact of your proposal. The results are organized into three categories:

• Total
• Embodied
• Operational

Operational carbon calculations rely on an Energy Analytical Model (EAM) and gbXML-based workflows. For more information, see Energy Analytical Model.

Workflow

1. Open your design proposal in Site Design.
2. From the Analyze menu, select Total carbon.
3. Select the building or buildings you want to analyze.
4. In the left panel, review and adjust settings:
• Building type (residential, office, hotel, etc.)
• Exterior walls
• Window-to-wall ratio (WWR)
• Other configurable parameters
5. Select Run analysis.

You can close the analysis window. The status appears in Analysis history and updates automatically when complete.

Exploring the Analysis Results

When the analysis is complete, the results appear in the History section of the panel on the right.

• Click the View Results button.
• The results are organized into tabs — select a tab to view that category:
• Total
• Embodied
• Operational

Use these results to compare how changes to massing, envelope assumptions, or other settings affect carbon outcomes.

To test alternatives:

1. Adjust one or more analysis settings.
2. Select Run analysis again.
3. Compare the updated results.

Forma Carbon Insights

You can display a more detailed analysis in the Carbon Insights dashboard.

In this expanded interface, you can:

• Configure custom factors, benchmarks, and dashboards.
• Run additional simulations with more detailed inputs.
• Review the data and calculations behind results.
• Collaborate with sustainability consultants or engineers.

To open Carbon Insights:

1. Run an analysis.
2. In the results panel, select Explore Insight.

Note: Carbon Insights dashboards can be shared via URL with any members of the Forma project. Site Design permissions do not restrict viewing and editing of the dashboard — anyone with access to the Forma project has full viewing and editing permissions.

For information about Carbon Insights, or the data and methods behind the analysis, see Revit help documentation.

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