A circular restructuring of construction is essential if we are to climate-proof our society

Construction has an enormous consumption of resources and leaves a massive impact on the environment and climate both through the materials used in the construction, through emissions during the construction phase itself and not least through the large energy consumption for heating and operating the buildings. Approximately 40 percent of the world's CO2 emissions can be related to construction and our buildings. Here at home it is about 30 percent. In addition, 50 percent of the materials we extract globally go to construction.

Although there have been reductions over recent years and there are further measures on the drawing board both at home and in the EU, the industry is still far from being able to stay within the Paris Agreement's climate targets. And the legislation is not ambitious enough.

Part of the challenge is that for many years it has been believed that energy improvements and energy efficiency are the answers to how we can make our construction more climate-friendly. The focus has thus been both politically and in the industry to a large extent on reducing the CO2 load from the operation of the construction. Hardly as much attention has been given to the large resource and climate footprint that what we build has behind it - i.e. the CO2 emitted in connection with material production, transport, construction processes, renovation and demolition. But the building materials have a significant climate footprint and constitute a significant part of the construction's total CO2 load. As much as 11 per cent. of the total global CO2 emission today thus comes from the production of building materials. This corresponds to approximately one third of the construction's total CO2 emissions.

Therefore, it is also an area that must be prioritized and where the roll-out of solutions must be accelerated. A crucial step in this is the conversion to circular construction – we must consume less and we must avoid waste and we must recycle.

In Denmark, however, construction today is far from a scenario where the circular transition has really gained momentum. For example, figures from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency show that five million tonnes of construction and construction waste in Denmark per year, but that today it is only 36 per cent. of what is recycled. Several analyzes and studies document that important climate reductions are being missed here. It is not good enough. Therefore, there is a need for both the construction industry and decision-makers to get into circular gear.

The climate and resource footprint of construction is enormous. Therefore, a circular restructuring of construction is a fixed task if we are to create a society within the planetary boundaries.

Green Transition Denmark works to promote legislation that can support and accelerate the circular transformation of construction. We work for strengthened circular requirements in the building regulations, a national resource strategy and concrete reduction targets for resource consumption - which must apply to the entire construction value chain.