EPiC Explorer Launch
Launch of EPiC Explorer, a new platform turning University of Melbourne research on embodied carbon in construction materials into practical design tools.
A building's climate impact starts long before the lights turn on. It starts with the materials themselves: the concrete, the steel, the glass. Making them takes energy and water, and releases emissions, before anyone has even moved in. Those impacts are settled by decisions made early in design.
On Thursday 3 December 2026, we launch EPiC Explorer : a new platform that turns decades of University of Melbourne research on those impacts into practical tools for the people shaping the built environment. We would love you to be part of it, in the room in Melbourne or live online.
What is EPiC Explorer?
EPiC Explorer is built on the EPiC Database, which quantifies the embodied environmental flows of construction materials. It is much more than a database in a browser. EPiC Explorer adds working tools on top of that foundation, so it becomes far easier to explore materials and their environmental data, compare options side by side, organise information into elements, assemblies, buildings, and projects, and apply the results in real design and assessment decisions. The point is not just more data. It is the step from environmental data to better decisions.
From research to practice
For decades, research at the University of Melbourne has been developing better ways to understand the environmental impacts of construction materials: not only the greenhouse gas emissions, but also the energy and water required to make them. That work produced the EPiC Database, released openly and since adopted well beyond the university, across research, teaching, professional practice, and policy. In New South Wales alone, close to 70,000 homes have already been certified using EPiC data.
Beyond EPiC is the venture created by the researchers behind that work, Robert Crawford, André Stephan, and James Helal, to take it further and build the tools the built environment has been missing. EPiC Explorer is the next step, and this evening is its official launch.
On the night The story behind Beyond EPiC, told by the founders The first public look at EPiC Explorer and what it makes possible Live demonstrations with the team A livestream for everyone joining from beyond Melbourne Time to connect with a community spanning design, construction, research, and policy Food and drinks to close the evening, for everyone joining us in person
Who should attend
Anyone whose work touches the environmental performance of the built environment: architects, engineers, sustainability and LCA professionals, consultants, builders, property and construction organisations, government and policy teams, academics, educators, researchers, and students. Whether you lead a practice, coordinate a subject, advise clients, or are just starting out, you are warmly invited. Individuals are as welcome as organisational teams.
Event details Date: Thursday 3 December 2026 Venue: Singapore Theatre, Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne, Parkville Timing: doors open from 5:30 pm…