Australia ranks first in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries regarding CO2 emissions per capita and 11th globally for overall annual CO2 emissions. Buildings are one of this country's dominant greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to 20% of yearly emissions. Previous research shows that the highest reduction in carbon emissions can be achieved during the early stages of design and material selection; however, selecting environmentally sustainable materials is believed to increase project expenditure by 30% of the overall project cost. Optimizing carbon emissions and the cost of building materials in the design phase is an imminent challenge. Existing research has examined the potential of optimization algorithms and surrogate models in this topic; however, there is a lack of workflow for architects and designers to adopt. To address this knowledge gap, the authors are undertaking a research project to develop a methodology that helps architects and designers to optimize cost and environmental impact in the building's design stage. This paper aims to outline the research framework and share the latest progress and preliminary findings of the research project. This paper will provide insights to researchers who are interested in using a data-driven approach in the context of building performance assessment.