Green building has received increased attention over the past decade from both environmental economists and policymakers. While there is no single definition of “green buildings” or its related policy, researchers and organizations tend to emphasize resource efficiency in building and reducing the impacts of buildings on human health and the environment.

This research explores the carbon impact of current Value Engineering (VE) practices in Australia. To accomplish this goal, a complex mixed-use building in Sydney was modelled to determine the capital material costs and initial embodied carbon emissions before and after the VE process. The results support the suggestion of a positive relationship between embodied carbon and capital cost, as outlined in the literature.