Meet Our Partners: GECA x Rebuilt – Cracking the Carbon Code Without Blowing the Budget
When it comes to product sustainability, transparency is everything. That’s why GECA, Australia’s trusted ecolabel for products and services, has partnered with Rebuilt, the fast-growing carbon tech innovator making verified product carbon claims simple, credible, and affordable.
Together, we’re helping manufacturers of GECA certified products extend their sustainability claims, to include credible, data-backed carbon transparency. This partnership is designed to further enhance industry credibility, giving manufacturers a practical pathway to add verified embodied carbon data to their sustainability outcomes and demonstrate authentic leadership.
We spoke with Esther Bailey, COO of Rebuilt, to unpack how this collaboration is helping the building and interiors products sector shift from ambition to action, without drowning in data or blowing the budget.
What inspired the partnership between GECA and Rebuilt?
Esther Bailey: I’m a long-time fan-girl of GECA. GECA has long set the benchmark for credible environmental and socially responsible products in Australia, aligned to global ecolabelling standards. But the reporting landscape continues to evolve.
As a result of building rating schemes and regulations and now corporate climate disclosure mandates, buyers, certifiers, investors and regulators are asking tougher questions about embodied carbon.
GECA recognised this early and released its Carbon Strategy to guide how certified products should address carbon impacts. Rebuilt helps put that strategy into action, offering manufacturers a low-cost, high-quality way to generate verified carbon data that’s usable, affordable, credible and recognised within the GECA framework.
Importantly, this process isn’t limited to GECA certified products. Any manufacturer can use Rebuilt to understand and improve their product carbon performance, whether or not they pursue ecolabel certification.
That’s exactly why we built Rebuilt: with ballooning reporting costs, we wanted to make embodied carbon measurable, manageable, and accessible. Partnering with GECA and embedding carbon transparency into an already trusted ecolabel was a natural next step.
Why is embodied carbon so important right now?
Esther: Embodied carbon is the part of a product’s footprint that’s locked in at the point of manufacture; the emissions embedded in raw materials, transport, and manufacturing. Unlike operational emissions, you can’t reduce it after installation, it’s already out in the world.
And it’s big. In construction and fit-out products, embodied carbon often makes up more than half the total lifecycle emissions. That’s why regulators are paying attention. Procurement teams are tightening standards. And manufacturers who can’t prove their carbon story will start to miss out.
How does Rebuilt make this easier for manufacturers with GECA certification?
Esther: We are working closely with GECA to align our tools for manufacturers with GECA certified products. Our goal is to make carbon reporting integrated, not duplicative. That means:
Product Carbon Footprints reports that align to GECA’s rules and standards
Verified results aligned to ISO 14067 that hold up under scrutiny
Visual dashboards that help benchmark, compare, and empower action
GECA acknowledgement in our products marketplace.
But here’s the key: manufacturers can start using Rebuilt without committing to full third-party verification right away. Our platform lets them explore carbon data, estimate footprints, and compare products — only verifying the ones that matter most. It’s a flexible, cost-effective way to get started without overcommitting.
This isn’t (just) a box-ticking exercise. As well as generating a point-in-time verification report, Rebuilt’s subscription platform also gives manufacturers the tools to understand their product impact and explore emissions reductions strategies over the long term. It puts control in their hands to lead on climate without needing a six-figure consultancy budget.
How is a Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) different to an EPD?
Esther: An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a broad life-cycle assessment that can include everything from water and waste to human health. It’s rigorous, but it’s also expensive and time-consuming — often tens of thousands of dollars per product.
A Product Carbon Footprint (PCF), by contrast, focuses specifically on carbon emissions across a product’s life stages — the data most in demand for climate reporting, Green Star points, and low-carbon procurement. Rebuilt’s PCFs are verified to ISO 14067, recognised by NABERS and GBCA, and cost a fraction of a typical EPD.
This targeted approach means manufacturers can meet growing market expectations faster and more affordably, while still producing data that holds up under scrutiny.
What’s the value in combining GECA’s ecolabel with verified carbon data?
Esther: We are laser-focused on making embodied carbon measurement ubiquitous, to drive procurement decision-making towards responsible producers. But we recognise that whilst avoiding climate change is vital and embodied carbon is mandated, it cannot, and should not, be the only lens we look through.
By pairing a GECA and Rebuilt label, product manufacturers have a least-cost pathway to compliance, credible sustainability claims, demonstrated ethics, and maximum Green Star points.
Together, GECA and Rebuilt offer a powerful combination: trusted third-party ecolabel certification, and carbon transparency that’s rigorous, affordable and usable. It shows the market what’s possible when leaders collaborate to build something better.
What’s the opportunity for the sector?
Esther: This isn’t just about one product, or one manufacturer. This is about raising the bar across the board. Through this partnership, we’re building a pathway that any manufacturer with GECA-certified products can follow, no matter their size or internal capacity.
The more companies we support, the more we grow the shared baseline. That’s how we help shift the industry, from fragmented claims to sector-wide standards backed by data.
How can manufacturers get involved?
We’ve kept it simple:
Start with a free trial – Explore Rebuilt’s platform, test out PCF creation, and see your product’s carbon hotspots before committing. No upfront cost.
Access support – Join a growing network of companies embedding carbon transparency into their product sustainability story.
Benchmark and improve – Use Rebuilt’s dashboards to identify emissions hotspots, compare product variants, and build capability over time.
It’s fast, practical, and fully aligned with the GECA framework.
Final thoughts?
Esther: Sustainability claims only matter if they’re backed by evidence. That’s why this partnership exists — to move the conversation from what you say to what you can prove.
We're proud to stand alongside GECA to make carbon transparency the next norm, not the next hurdle. Together, we’re helping the industry evolve with data you can trust, and tools you can use.
Ready to raise your game?
If you have GECA certified products and want to bring verified carbon data into your sustainability story, head to rebuilt.eco to get started.
Let’s build a future where product sustainability is real, measurable, and market-ready — together.