Climate requirements for new construction affect the entire industry

Hans Buch advises on increased requirements for documentation of climate impact. The requirements, introduced in 2023, increase transparency and highlight areas of focus for companies.

Our impact on the planet and our surroundings is something most companies have become familiar with. Climate and environment are an integral part of modern business operations, and now the requirements are keeping pace with the good intentions.

This means, among other things, that every product or component must have an environmental product declaration called EPD (Environmental Product Declaration).

Division Director at Hans Buch Industry, Rasmus Pedersen, has been in the USA to talk about this in a supplier network at PHD Inc., which from its headquarters in the state of Indiana produces and delivers solutions for the industry worldwide within automation.

– In Europe and in Denmark, it is moving quickly to implement schemes that should clarify the climate impact that companies contribute to and should make an effort to reduce. It ensures high transparency for everything we in the industry produce and use, and it contributes to increased awareness of our resource use, he explains, but adds:

– It also places increased documentation requirements on the entire industry’s supply chain both inside and outside Europe, says Rasmus Pedersen.

Regulation imposes requirements on everyone in the industry

The building regulations have been updated as of January 1 with two new provisions that affect the industry’s producers of solutions and components that are part of new constructions.

– This means that all industry producers, in principle, need to declare all their products if they want them on the market, as they do not really know if their products will end up being used in new construction, explains Rasmus Pedersen.

The calculation of the climate impact for each individual product must be documented in a so-called LCA perspective (life-cycle assessment), which covers everything from the creation of raw materials, use, as well as recycling or disposal of raw materials. Read more about what LCA is.

Building regulations require documentation (EPD)

The new climate requirements for the building regulations are defined in two new provisions that impose requirements on both documentation and limit values for the building materials used. There will be ongoing tightening of the limit values.

Read more: “What is an EPD?“

Climate impacts must be documented with an LCA climate calculation

This means that a comprehensive life-cycle assessment of CO2 equivalents (CO2-eq) of all materials used in new constructions must be made as of January 1, 2023.

The term CO2-eq is a comprehensive account of greenhouse gases and includes, among other things, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). You can read more about this in Hans Buch’s knowledge universe in the article “Basic knowledge about climate and environment“.

Limit value of 12 kg CO2-eq per sqm per year and tightened continuously

A new construction over 1000 square meters must comply with a limit value of 12 kg CO2-eq/m2/year. The limit values are expected to be tightened every two years by 1.5 kg CO2-eq; first in 2025 with a limit value of 10.5 kg, in 2027 with 9 kg, and in 2029 with 7.5 kg.

If you have questions about how it affects your company’s operations, you are welcome to contact us. You can also read more on the website for the Knowledge Center and Buildings’ Climate Impacts (VCBK, Social and Housing Agency) www.byggeriogklima.dk.

VCBK is part of the “Agreement on the allocation of funds for sustainable construction,” which you can read more about on the Housing and Planning Agency’s website here. From the fund, 6 million DKK was allocated in 2021 and 12 million DKK in 2022.

ESG is the next step

While the new provisions of the building regulations are being phased in, the concept of ESG (Environmental and Social Governance) has been broadly implemented throughout the EU.

This means that companies must submit an ESG report along with the annual financial statement to clarify which companies are attractive to invest in or collaborate with based on their ESG.

Read more: “What is an ESG?”

ESG is already a requirement for the largest companies today, but smaller companies are already adjusting to it to continue their deliveries to the largest companies, explains Rasmus Pedersen.

– From 2026, Hans Buch will also be included, but we are already experiencing a demand from our largest customers to contribute data to their ESG obligations, says Rasmus Pedersen.