A third of construction's total climate footprint comes from the embedded CO2 and especially from building materials such as concrete and steel, where the climate footprint of production is enormously high, and where the scale of circularity and recycling still has long prospects.

If you look one or two decades ahead, the proportion of the construction's climate footprint from embedded CO2 is expected to rise dramatically, because there is currently no political framework in place to realize reductions in that area.

In the EU, efforts are being made to ensure that construction in the future will reduce its climate footprint. The EU is in the process of revising the building directive, the so-called Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). As something completely new, the proposal focuses on embedded CO2 in the building materials we use.

More specifically, the EU sets out that by 2027 at the latest, Member States must publish "a roadmap with detailed information on the introduction of limit values ​​for the total cumulative GWP (Global Warming Potential - an indicator that quantifies a building's potential contribution to global warming throughout its life cycle) throughout the life cycle of all new buildings.” In addition, the proposal states that they must set reduction targets for new buildings by 2030 at the latest. 

Denmark is among the few countries in Europe that already have legislation in this area today. With the new building regulations from 2023, we got a legal requirement to carry out a life cycle analysis on all new construction, just as today a ceiling has been set on the CO2 emissions for all new construction, which will be gradually tightened towards 2029. An initiative for which there was great support to in the industry.  

According to a study from the analysis institute Shifting Paradigms, there is a large economic carrot in reductions in embedded CO2. Their calculations show that a 41 percent reduction in the climate footprint from the embedded CO2 will result in a 9 percent reduction in construction costs.

The outline for requirements for the embedded CO2 can contribute to us having common rules in the area, so that data is comparable across European countries.