Climate declarations for buildings (proposal)

Published on January 26, 2021

A climate declaration describes the building’s climate impact, as calculated based on the greenhouse gas emissions from the construction stage. The construction stage comprises the extraction of raw materials, manufacture of construction products, work at the construction site and transports.

The purpose is to reduce climate impact from new buildings and increase knowledge of the climate impact of the construction of buildings. Another purpose is to illustrate the benefits of reducing the climate impact of construction of buildings to various actors in the construction sector.

A climate declaration gives the developer more in-depth knowledge of various resource flows in the building, their climate impacts and a documented climate performance. An estimated climate calculation in early construction stages provides a quantitative basis for making well-grounded decisions on how the building’s climate impact can be reduced. Increased knowledge provides greater opportunities to reduce the amounts of materials and waste. The costs can thereby also decrease in both the short and long term.