Our buildings and construction projects put a lot of pressure on our shared resources and environment. There is an urgent need to adjust the construction so that it can start delivering its share of climate reductions. For that, there is a need for sweeping changes in the way we build, which materials we use and the legislation in the area. Green Transition Denmark is now coming up with ten new recommendations for political Denmark. This is happening in connection with a new publication that takes a closer look at what is needed to create circular construction and what obstacles are currently standing in the way.
The status today is that 50 percent of the materials we extract globally go to construction. Buildings and construction projects account for around 30 per cent. of the total Danish climate footprint and 40 per cent of the total global CO2 emissions. The consumption of construction materials such as steel and concrete alone accounts for 11 percent of the total global CO2 emissions.
In Denmark, the construction sector is far from a scenario where the circular transition has really gained momentum. That's what Anna Fenger Schefte says, who is a senior adviser at the Green Transition Denmark and has written the publication.
"The debate about circular construction has been going on for many years, but until now it has largely remained talk. The implementation of circular construction in our country continues to be characterized by individual prestige projects," she says.
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. Among other things, an analysis from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation indicates that the transition to a more circular economy alone could reduce the global CO2 reductions from construction by as much as 38 per cent. in 2050.
If the Danish industry does not get up to speed, it could be expensive, says Anna Fenger Schefte.
"The Danish construction industry is also losing the opportunity to lead on a global and European market, where circularity is becoming an increasingly important requirement, and where the companies that can deliver circular solutions will have a clear competitive advantage," she says.
According to Anna Fenger Schefte, the primary barrier is that the political framework necessary to accelerate the transition is not yet in place. Therefore, the circular restructuring of construction stands and falls with political courage and action.
"There is a need to scale up the political effort enormously. The entire area of legislation within construction must be viewed through circular glasses. They have just done that in the Netherlands,” she says.
In the Dutch project Circulaw, one is in the process of identifying barriers and incentives for circular conversion in the construction industry in relation to the current legislation. The next step is for politicians to let that mapping be the basis for an ambitious and targeted legislative package that can really speed up the circular transition.
"The alternative is that for the next several years we continue to toast the inauguration of individual circular prestige construction projects, but do not actually create a new normality in the construction industry, where circularity is a must and where circular construction has become a clear Danish position of strength," says Anna Fenger Schefte.
Find the publication 'Circular construction - from dream to reality' below.
Ten recommendations for political Denmark
1 Introduce a high and uniform CO2 tax that includes all players in construction. It should ideally be DKK 1500/ton, as recommended by the Climate Council. Manufacturers of building materials must not have a discount, as was otherwise agreed with the green tax reform from 2022, but must pay a minimum of DKK 1125/tonne and ideally up to DKK 1500/tonne, so that the tax reflects the climate impact.
2 Look at the whole area of legislation relating to construction with circular glasses. This applies, for example, to planning legislation, waste regulation and other parts of the building regulations that go beyond the current requirements in the building regulations for life cycle analyzes and embedded CO2. This will initially require a comprehensive survey that uncovers both potentials, but also barriers to current legislation in relation to promoting more circular construction. This also applies in relation to other requirements such as the building regulations, which potentially encourage more circularity.
3 Introduce new procurement rules that promote a much greater focus on circularity in the construction industry, for example by allowing public tenders to follow the circular framework and requirements laid down in the EU's taxonomy for sustainable investments.
4 Put the focus on the entire building stock – and not just new construction – in relation to both requirements for embedded CO2 and circular requirements in order to thereby also promote the preservation and transformation of the existing building stock. It is far preferable to new construction from a climate perspective.
5 Ensure faster implementation of higher requirements for the embedded CO2 in the building regulations. The current political agreement, which is for phasing in requirements for CO2 per m2 per year is not ambitious enough in relation to paving the way for the climate reductions that construction must deliver, and in relation to the climate footprint that construction has today.
6 Adopt a minimum requirement in relation to resource mapping of the existing building mass during demolition and renovation. This could be done by expanding the statutory environmental mapping during demolition to also include a statutory resource mapping, which uncovers the circular potential of a building. It may be necessary that the requirement for a resource mapping only applies to buildings of a certain size. It is important that requirements for resource mapping are seen in the context of the upcoming rules for selective demolition.
7 Paving the way for a stronger commercialization of the market for circular materials. This can be done with the following initiatives: promoting common and transparent access to data about the materials, introducing requirements for material passports and expanding this to also include recycled materials, as well as taking measures that can minimize risks in connection with the use of recycled materials in construction. In addition, new requirements are needed for the content of building materials, so that we can avoid the use of harmful chemicals in our buildings.
8 Increase support for new circular players and circular value chains. Today, there is a lack of companies in the circular value chain. Here, there is a particular need for test facilities in relation to analysis and data on specific recycled materials and upcycling centers that can ensure recycling and high-value reuse of building materials. It will also be necessary to look at promoting the development of symbioses and industrial partnerships across construction and other sectors with a view to promoting circularity. It could, for example, be symbioses between agriculture and construction on new circular material flows in relation to the production of biogenic building materials.
9 Integrate construction into an overall strategic plan for Denmark's consumption of raw materials and resources. There is a need for a unified and long-term strategy for raw materials, resources and circular economy to be drawn up from a political perspective. Politically, for many years the focus has primarily been on energy in the green transition. And the little effort that has been made in relation to circularity is largely limited to waste management. There is a need to increase the political focus on reducing our resource consumption – both as a contribution to a smaller climate footprint, but also to ensure our security of supply.
10 Work for an ambitious EU policy in the area. A lot is happening these years at European level in relation to regulation of construction, which can promote circularity and reductions in embedded CO2. The EU's measures will undoubtedly set the direction and determine the pace of climate change in construction for many years to come. It is therefore important that Danish politicians and authorities work to ensure that EU legislation in the area becomes ambitious enough to move the construction industry so that it does not affect the climate, the environment and our resources.
