iLCCT Case Study

Clinical research contributes significantly to global carbon emissions—estimated at ~100 million tonnes of CO₂ annually, similar to Belgium’s national emissions. The iLCCT project was created to help pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations (CROs) reduce their carbon footprint by providing a platform to calculate and report carbon emissions from clinical trials.

It is a free, web-based carbon calculator built using Microsoft .NET and ReactJS. It allows a user to segment trial activities into modules and estimates CO₂e emissions per trial and per participant.

Project Overview

Server-Side Calculator Implementation

We developed the back-end logic that powers the core carbon footprint estimation. Key tasks included:

• Translating the SHC Clinical Trial Carbon Footprinting Methodology into executable algorithms
• Structuring emissions factors and activity data into a modular, extensible calculation engine
• Implementing logic to compute total emissions and CO₂e per trial and per participant
• Supporting trial-by-trial customization (e.g., adjusting data granularity for digital, hybrid, or site-based trials)

The calculator segments emissions across categories such as:

• Staff travel
• Patient visits
• Trial site energy use
• Lab procedures and materials
• Freight and delivery
• Digital and decentralized operations (e.g., telemedicine)

Robust Unit Test Framework

To ensure integrity and reproducibility, we delivered a comprehensive suite of unit tests targeting every major logic path in the calculator, including:

• Emissions factor accuracy
• Input validation and edge cases
• Consistency of results across trial types
• Regression testing for logic changes

This test framework now forms the backbone of the calculator’s CI/CD pipeline, supporting reliable deployments and continuous evolution of the tool.