RESEARCH – October 2022

Construction Carbon Regulations In Europe

Review & Best Practises

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Every regulation and database analysed in this report advances decarbonisation. Equally, every regulation can be improved to cut even more carbon at a lower cost.

Designed for everyone working with construction sector carbon regulations, this report offers a comprehensive review of relevant European regulations and their associated databases. It uses a comparative scoring system to benchmark the leading regulations and databases in order to highlight the best practises needed to decarbonize construction.

The report covers all relevant LCA and embodied carbon regulations and offers in-depth analysis of the existing and expected national regulations in Denmark, Finland, France, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the UK. The databases reviewed were B-EPD, CO2data, INIES, Okobaudat, NMD and Boverket’s database.

All regulations were scored against identified best practices and classified either as transparency drivers, carbon cutters or leaders. The evaluation’s leaders, implementing most of the best practices in both dimensions, are the upcoming Danish and Finnish regulations and the London Plan.

Similar benchmarking was applied to the databases. The databases were scored based on the availability and access and the quality and cost (to manufacturers). The leaders, implementing most of the best practises in both dimensions, are Okobaudat and INIES.

No single ideal recipe for embodied carbon regulation exists, as every regulation has to be adapted to its local context. However, the regulations presented in this report provide an excellent starting point for anyone involved in creating or implementing similar regulations in their local context.