The new Energy Performance of Buildings Directive introduces the evaluation of carbon in the whole-life cycle of buildings into design practice. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is envisaged as a tool for calculating the carbon footprint. Buildings, composed of various products with long lifespans, require a structured approach to LCA, including comprehensive boundary conditions and environmental impact data. The article presents the Guidelines for Low-Carbon Buildings of the Slovenian Building Fund, serving as a starting point for understanding the LCA methodology and the key elements for a harmonized carbon footprint assessment. It also compares the methodological characteristics of selected national methods and the Level(s) framework with the method presented in the guidelines. This enables a discussion on the challenges of implementing LCA into building design practice and an elaboration on why the upcoming national methodology will have a somewhat different design than the one developed in the guidelines. Slovenia must prepare for the introduction of LCA, otherwise there is a risk of overburdening the designers and the representativeness of the calculations will be called into question.
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