LCA and Utilisation of Existing Building Stock were on the Agenda for the Seventh Annual Nordic Climate Forum for Construction

The Minister for Social Affairs and Housing, Sofie Hæstorp Andersen, opened the forum. In her speech, she emphasised the importance of a shift towards a greener construction industry with focus on reducing the CO2 emissions, raising the ambitions of the industry and changing the aspects of all building processes to achieve a more green and sustainable industry. She focused on renovation and transformation as a direction to go, directly linking to the location of the day, Thoravej 29, to be a great example of this.

Below you can review the key points from each presenter of the day.

EU Outlook

Representatives from the EU Commission shared key updates on current policy developments shaping the future of sustainable building in Europe. The presentations focused on two major areas: the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) focusing on the part defining the methodology on how to calculate the Whole Life Carbon Global Warming Potential for new building, and the EU Commission's evolving work on sufficiency and climate metrics within the construction sector.

EPBD and the delegated act for life-cycle Global Warming Potential

Bunthan IEA, Policy Officer at the Directorate General for Energy in the EU Commission, focused on the revised Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) highlighting the proposed delegated act for Life Cycle Global Warming Potential calculation. He expressed the importance of a harmonised approach for calculating the life-cycle Global Warming Potential (GWP) and the necessity of including and consider all aspects in the building processes, including materials, transport, construction, the use of energy, and demolition of the buildings. The delegated act setting a framework for the national calculation of life-cycle GWP will be adopted in December 2025, and a series of limit values for all new buildings will be introduced by 2030.

Sufficiency

Josefina Lindblom, Policy Officer at the Directorate General for Environment in the EU Commission, share some of the work the EU Commission is looking into considering sufficiency. She presented the potentials and benefits of using the existing buildings more effectively decreasing the need to build new. She mentioned that it is necessary to think of how to use buildings in a more sustainable way and the importance of a holistic approach in the building industry. She highlighted how the EU Commission are dedicating energy to finding ways to use existing buildings more effectively as there currently is no legislation in this area. Additionally, she shared that the upcoming Housing Package 2025 will focus on affordability and sustainability, including a better use of existing building stock. Finally, a new EU study is being launched to investigate how building policies can support these objectives - particularly by improving how data is generated, stored, shared, and used to create greater insight and impact.

Nordic Outlook

The Nordic countries and Estonia are leading efforts in making the construction sector more sustainable. With limit values already introduced or soon to be, there are growing momentum across the region. Authorities are increasingly rethinking how building processes are included in Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), and more initiatives are emerging to prioritise renovation and transformation over new construction. 

See an overview of the Nordic climate declaration and limit values here 

To support and scale this development, collaborations across the region is essential. The Nordic Vision 2030 sets the ambition for a green, competitive, and socially sustainable region, where the construction sector plays a key role in achieving it.

The new programme Nordic Sustainable Construction 2025-2027, presented by the Head of Secretariat, Helle Redder Momsen, works to accelerate the green, digital and circular transition of the built environment by generating new knowledge, build capacity, and enabling an aligned path and approach toward a sustainable construction and housing sector, with minimal environmental and climate impact. The work is organised into 3 work packages and a secretariat. The two topics of the day were closely linked to making the implementation of climate regulation more efficient regarding LCA under the climate work package and floor optimisation, lifetime extension and transformation under the circularity work package. The knowledge gained during the day from across the Nordic construction industry will be used to implement these two tasks.

Norway

Marie Karvel Kyllingstad from the Norwegian National Building Authority presented the status of the country's new climate regulations for the construction sector. The proposed framework aims to reduce climate footprint of construction activities while maintaining cost efficiency. As part of this effort, the authorities have developed a reporting platform to support building permit processes, including data validation and control of limit values. Additionally, there is a growing focus on making it more feasible for the sector to prioritise the renovation and reuse of existing buildings.

Sweden

Kristina Einarsson from Boverket in Sweden presented the current status of national climate regulation efforts. By June 2026, a proposal will be developed outlining requirements for calculating and reporting life-cycle GWP along with limit values for climate impact of buildings. To support implementation, Sweden is working on a climate declaration register that will enable more automated supervision once the new regulations are in place. Additionally, in June 2025, Boverket submitted a proposal aimed at reducing requirements and costs related to renovation and transformation, with the goal of promoting better use of the existing building stock.

Finland

Maria Tiainen and Harri Hakaste from the Ministry of Environment in Finland presented the status of national climate and construction policy developments. A climate declaration will enter into force on January 1^st 2026 introducing limit values for the carbon footprint of buildings.

New legislation also introduces changes in information management to promote interoperability across the sector. Finland has adopted policies to support longer service life of existing buildings, and the new Construction Act includes sections that ease renovation in line with original building characteristics and enable transformation of building use. Guidance has been developed to help building owners assess the values of building properties and explore possibilities for transformation.

Additionally, Finland launched a Circular Economy Green Deal one year ago, which includes actions to preserve and improve the efficiency of the existing built environment.

Estonia

Hannamary Seli from the Ministry of Climate in Estonia presented the status of national climate regulations in the construction sector. A roadmap has been established to introduce life-cycle GWP calculations and limit values for all new buildings by 2030. To support this transition, Estonia has implemented a BIM-based building permit, where a BIM model will be submitted with the building permit application to verify compliance with the regulatory requirements.

Estonia also has a long term renovation strategy aimed at upgrading the building stock to meet sufficient energy performance standards and renovating 54 million m2 of buildings. To facilitate implementation, a digital construction guide has been made, offering overview of requirements by building type. A renovation guide is also planned to further support the industry in transforming existing buildings.

Denmark

Nana Weien Okholm and Mads Simonsen from the Danish Authority of Social Services and Housing presented the Danish national strategy for sustainable construction and the related political agreements. As of July 2025, limit values for new buildings have been have been tightened compared to the level from 2023 and furthermore differentiated. IN addition to this a Specific limit value for construction processes (A4 and A5) have been introduced. These values are set to be tightened every second year. A voluntary reporting template has been made to report the LCA results to authorities and further work is ongoing to create an enable digital fundament.

There is also a growing focus on better utilisation of the existing building stock through eased energy requirements, transformation of buildings in the cities, reduces demolitions, and regulation adapted for existing buildings. To support this shift, barriers are currently being assessed.

Iceland

Elín Þórólfsdóttir from the Housing and Construction Authority in Iceland presented the current national efforts related to LCA regulations, digitalisation, and strategies to optimise the use of existing building stock. As of September 1st, all building permit applications for new buildings must include a LCA, submitted via a dedicated digital portal.

To encourage circular economy principles, reused materials are assigned zero emissions across all life-cycle phases. Additional initiatives focus on reducing emissions by prioritising the reuse of existing buildings and enabling their transformation into housing where possible. Guidance is currently being prepared to support municipalities in implementing these approaches.

Inspiration from the sector

The forum also featured practical examples from stakeholders throughout the Nordic countries.

Nordic Office of Architecture

At Nordic Office of Architecture, efforts have been made on tracking the CO2 bound in construction materials without relying on complex, independent simulations. To address this, the team developed a user-friendly tool called the Nordic Carbon Tracker (NCT), designed to provide a clear overview of CO2-equivalent emissions.

The tool integrates directly with Revit, extracting relevant greenhouse gas data to enhance the building model. With a single button, users can retrieve and present the data in an easily understandable format. This approach enables project teams to monitor emissions and calculate average values across projects, helping raise awareness and support more informed decision-making throughout the design and construction process.

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

VTT has developed a proof-of-concept tool called AC(CO2)RD to explore automated, conservative estimation of the environmental impact based on IFC models. The tool is tailored to meet Finnish regulatory requirements and performs a step-by-step LCA calculations using BIM data, clearly showing how each factor contributes to the overall impact. Currently, the tool is being further identified and structured to include all necessary information, supporting its integration into regulatory and design workflows.

Bevar Mere

Bevar Mere (Sustain More) is a philanthropic action supported by four foundations aiming to develop knowledge, create tools, involve stakeholders and support demonstration projects. It was highlighted that Denmark will need between 100.000 and 150.000 new homes by 2040, and that 40.000 to 70.000 of these could be created from existing buildings.

Bevar Mere’s mission is to drive behavioural change among professionals and the wider population, encouraging transformation and reuse of buildings with a focus on community, quality of life, climate and resources. Bevar Mere is currently engaged in 17 projects, including 7 tool development projects and 10 knowledge-based projects. Their work addresses regulatory, financial, and demographic barriers, with emphasis on influencing decision-making in the early phases of construction and planning. The first results are expected before summer 2026.

Vasakronan

The largest real estate owner in Sweden, Vasakronan, shared their strategic approach to sustainable development, emphasising that return on investment must not come at the expense of the environment, people or society. The company has set ambitious targets to achieve net-zero emissions across its entire value chain by 2030. To reach this goal, significant efforts are being made within the development section of the company.

Examples were presented of transforming office buildings into residential units, highlighting the benefits of transformation over demolition. The company underscored that no development project starts from zero, demolition carries a 'backpack' of embodied emissions that must be considered.

Next steps

The afternoon was dedicated to roundtable discussions, allowing participants to explore the two main topics of the day: Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) and how to make these more effective, digital and cost-friendly, and optimisation and utilisation of the existing building stock.

Authorities and stakeholders from across the Nordic countries, Estonian, and EU construction sector explored challenges and opportunities within these areas. These dialogues, building on new knowledge from the day, provided valuable insights that will inform the ongoing work within Nordic Sustainable Construction programme and inspire further development across the sector.

Watch or rewatch the presentations and download the slides here

Photos from the forum was taken by David Kahr.