Digitalisation of Life Cycle Assessment, along with Construction Product Regulation, Digital Product Passport and climate change adaptation of the built environment was on the agenda at this year’s Nordic Climate Forum for Construction

The minister stated how the targets are demanding but achievable, and that harmonisation with the other Nordic countries will simplify implementation. In addition, he expressed how the lowest carbon material is often the one that is not produced at all, and that construction and demolition waste makes up a large portion of Iceland’s waste stream. This has led to a new national waste prevention programme and a handbook on reusing building materials and products.

Furthermore, the minister described how climate change is affecting Iceland with heavier rainfall, landslides, slush flows, and coastal flooding. This has led Iceland to publish its first national adaptation plan in the beginning of 2026 with 60 actions. The plan emphasises designing and building for the climate of the future rather than past records and introduces clearer policies for nature‑based solutions and storm‑water management.

EU Outlook

Pieter Staelens, Head of Sector Sustainable Construction at DG GROW, outlined the EU Commission’s new industrial strategy for the construction sector, which tackles low productivity, rising costs and lagging digitalisation while utilising a strong demand for new housing, renovation and circular economy waste streams. The strategy is anchored in the Circular Economy Act and the European Strategy for Housing Construction, and includes measures such as the Affordable Housing Act, a Housing Simplification Package (due early 2027), and a focus on renovation and repurposing as the most sustainable way to increase the housing supply.

To meet the 2040 climate target of a 90 % net reduction in GHG emissions and carbon‑neutral buildings by 2050, the strategy adopts a whole‑life carbon approach, mandatory BIM for demolition, life cycle costing, and “Made in Europe” quality standards in public procurement. The strategy for Housing Construction is based on four pillars, simplifying & digitalising, supporting innovation & scaling up construction value chains, improving access to services & skills, and securing raw and secondary materials. The aim is to unlock the full potential of the construction ecosystem.

Pieter also touched on the topic of the Construction Product Regulation (CPR) and the Digital Product Passport (DPP). The new CPR requires mandatory declaration of essential characteristics of the LCA environmental indicators in three steps by 2032. In addition, the DPP will increase transparency and facilitate traceability while improving the management of complex information when being harmonised at an EU level.

Nordic Outlook

The Nordic Sustainable Construction Programme was presented by Helle Redder Momsen, Head of Secretariat. The programme focuses on accelerating the green, digital and circular transition in the Nordic construction sector, with the three work packages, Climate, Circularity and EU.

Currently the Climate Work Package is examining how adaptation is incorporated into Nordic regulation. Preliminary findings show that it is generally embedded in structural safety, moisture and indoor-climate requirements, with land-use planning and technical guidance playing major roles.

Rita Lavikka from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland presented, the Nordic BIM-LCA project they are working on for the Climate Work Package. The project examines how BIM and digitalisation can make building life-cycle assessments more efficient, comparable and easier for authorities to validate, covering the Nordic countries and Estonia. Read more about the project here.

The Circularity Work Package has developed an inspiration catalogue with 34 policy measures and cases across five areas, prioritising better use, maintenance, renovation and adaptation of existing buildings before demolition. In addition, a Nordic Eurocode Network will share knowledge useful for the implementation of the second-generation Eurocodes and identify harmonisation opportunities, particularly around structural optimisation, climate loads and material efficiency. A parallel project is developing a common Nordic framework for implementing EN 1990-2, covering the assessment and reliability of existing structures.

Miguel Prieto Rábade presented the work group RECON-NORDICS, working for the Circularity Work Package on turning Nordic experience with concrete reuse into a common, practical approach. RECON-NORDICS gathers experts from across the Nordic sector and focuses on indoor load-bearing components: hollow-core slabs, beams and columns, and components cut from cast-in-place structures. Read more about the project here.

The EU Work Package is monitoring the Affordable Housing Act, Circular Economy Act, Construction Services Act, Housing Simplification Package and the relationship between the Digital Product Passport and Construction Products Regulation.

Read more about the three work packages here

Iceland

Elín Þórólfsdóttir from the Icelandic Housing, Construction and Planning Authority (HMS) presented the progress on building LCA, digitalisation and climate adaptation in Iceland. 

LCA has since September 2025 been mandatory at the design stage for new buildings. Next steps will focus on tightening the methodology, national data, tools, interoperability and verification before setting limit values and final‑stage reporting in 2028. In addition, a new national Building Register was launched in March 2026, as part of the Digital Building Logbook, which aims to create one digital process, a traceable lifecycle record and structured data for national analysis.

Elín pointed to how climate change is affecting structural loads, moisture exposure, flooding, durability, overheating, ventilation and indoor climate. It was highlighted how these changing conditions need to be reflected in guidance, standards and regulation, as today’s buildings may remain in use in 2100.

Norway

Eli Foss and Hanna Walter from the Norwegian Building Authority presented the updates on LCA limits and climate adaptation strategies in Norway. Norway has proposed expanding the mandatory GHG accounting by introducing maximum emission limits for selected building categories. The expanded scope would cover more building types, construction site emissions and large projects would also include selected technical installations.

In addition, the approach to temporary protection against natural hazards were presented. Temporary measures, such as mobile flood barriers, can supplement or replace permanent infrastructure when hazards can be predicted sufficiently early. These measures do however depend on forecasting, deployment and continued maintenance, and introduces uncertainty affecting both property protection and personal safety. Therefore, it requires clear public responsibility, operational and maintenance plans, monitoring and warning systems.

Estonia

Kristel Lopsik from The Ministry of Climate of Estonia presented Estonia’s progress on carbon regulation, LCA tools and climate adaptation for buildings. Estonia published its life cycle GWP methodology in 2024 and is now refining it, preparing limit values and transposing the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). They introduce mandatory calculations for new buildings over 1,000 m² in 2028, followed by calculations and limit values for all new buildings in 2030.

Concerning climate adaptation, Estonia expects faster-than-average warming, increased rainfall and longer dry periods, with consequences for heating and cooling demand. This has already been seen in Pärnu where there was recorded 114 mm of rain in 12 hours in September 2026, leading to 864 insurance claims exceeding €6 million. Adaptation measures include local climate and greening plans, nature-based urban solutions and climate-proofing new and renovated infrastructure. The LIFE IP BuildEST project is developing guidance and tools for climate-resilient renovation, wooden buildings, flood protection, basement waterproofing and construction under heavier precipitation.

Sweden

Kristina Einarsson and Peter Brander from The Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning (Boverket) presented Sweden’s proposed life cycle carbon regulation and findings from a new national climate vulnerability analysis.

In May 2026 a proposal was submitted to implement life cycle Global Warming Potential (GWP) reporting and building emission limits under the Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD). Calculations would need to cover at least 90% of economic costs for building elements and technical equipment using actual or default data. Part of the preparation includes an updated climate database in early 2027, guidance later that year and an updated Energy Performance Certificate register in January 2028.

Sweden’s new national climate vulnerability analysis evaluates 359 risks, covering health, ecosystems, food, the built environment and infrastructure, business and natural resources, as well as water. Indoor heat stress during heatwaves is already considered severe and is expected to become critical without adaptation. The analysis also evaluates adaptive capacity across knowledge, acceptance, technology, finance and legal or political structures.

Finland

Maria Tiainen from The Ministry of the Environment of Finland presented Finland’s new building carbon footprint regulation and the integration of climate adaptation into land-use planning. The climate declaration requirement entered into force on 1 January 2026. Declarations are prepared from as-built information for final inspection, when compliance with the limit value is verified. Limits are set for nine building categories and will tighten from 2029. Next steps include that by 2030 small houses and all other buildings are to be included and existing buildings renovated to A+ will require GWP calculations.

Finland’s national adaptation framework is embedded in the Climate Change Act, with the current KISS2030 plan adopted in December 2022. Proposed changes in the Land Use Act would make adaptation an explicit planning objective and require plans to address extreme weather, flooding and stormwater. Additionally, work supporting climate adaptation will include updated stormwater guidance, sea-level-rise scenarios and research into major climate-system risks.

Denmark

Mads Simonsen from the Danish Authority for Social Services and Housing presented Denmark’s carbon regulation and climate adapted building requirements. Denmark has expanded the LCA coverage and included emissions from transport and construction activities with a separate limit of 1.5 CO2e/m2/year for construction processes. The limits will further be reduced by approximately 10% in 2027 and again in 2029 based on updated data.

Concerning climate adaptation, Danish projections for 2071–2100 indicate approximately 2°C higher mean temperature, 12% more winter precipitation and 42 cm of sea-level rise. Adaptation strategies include avoiding development in exposed areas, retreating where risk becomes unacceptable, accommodating recurring water and protecting areas through barriers or infrastructure. A technical study is examining how nine climate effects could pressure the requirements across building sites, indoor climate and energy, and structural safety. The work informs future policy but is not yet adopted in the regulation.

Inspiration from the Sector

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

s. ap arkitektar

Arnhildur Pálmadóttir from s. ap arkitektar presented an inspiration presentation on people, materials and the future. She highlighted two low carbon projects in Iceland that cut emissions by approximately 55% compared to a conventional reference building. The examples showed detailed envelopes with durable facades and natural and minimally processed materials. They connect low carbon architecture with Iceland’s tradition of building for the local climate, with local resources and for the landscape. She emphasised how the question is not to replace a material but to understand it better, use less of it and use what already exists, and develop new ways of working with it. She also highlighted how the people building the constructions are often invisible in an architectural discussion, and how it is important that the people know what they are building and can feel connected to the construction itself. A sustainable building should also include sustainable conditions for the people working on it.

In addition, she explored what construction might look like in 2150, building with local materials such as basalt and lava flows. She presented an imagined construction system using solidified lava for load bearing walls, melted basalt as insulation and basalt fibres for cladding and interior elements. The presentation moves beyond substituting one conventional material for another but imagines architecture formed directly from Iceland’s geology by combining local resources, advanced technology and different construction processes.

The Norwegian Building Authority

Martin Schreck from the Norwegian Building Authority presented about the DPP and its connection to the product information required under the CPR. He highlighted how the DPP can streamline the flow of climate related data across the construction value chain but that it is reliable on harmonised data generation methods. Each product passport will feed into BIM, digital building logbooks, LCA tools and building operation but missing data from one supplier will break the chain. He presented how inconsistent assumptions across LCA tools can cause identical buildings to show 20-46% different results, highlighting the need for harmonised calculation methodologies.

He presented how the CPR covers approximately 35% of a building, while another 35% falls under other regulatory regimes without equivalent harmonised climate methodology. The data for CPR is based on legally harmonised methods, but for product under other legislation comparability remains uncertain. He therefore highlights that the Nordic countries need a coordinated method on how climate data for the remaining 35% of products can align with the CPR data.

Aalborg University, BUILD

Harpa Birgisdóttir from Aalborg University’s research department BUILD held a presentation on expanding the scope of LCA. She argued that the Nordic countries should progress beyond incremental reductions in new construction and toward absolute emission cuts. She highlights how new construction needs demonstrated demand, greater space efficiency, tighter limits and reductions in absolute emission, and how the existing buildings need to remain in use for longer, with better utilisation, maintenance and adaptation prioritized over replacement or demolition.

Furthermore, she expressed how low carbon solutions can still create pressure on land, water, resources and biodiversity. An LCA can be used to trace the resource use, energy, transport, water and waste, and quantify pressure such as land use and ecotoxicity, but it would be needed to be combined with complementary methods as an LCA only provided part of the picture. She questioned the next steps for the Nordic countries to move on, whether it is ambitious carbon regulations, whole stock decision making, or environmental assessment methods that protects both the climate and ecosystem.

The Danish Building Fund

Laura M. V. Knudsen from the Danish Building Fund presented their work with mapping and tracking climate risks in Denmark. The Fund has been screening flood risks across the 92,000 affordable housing buildings they are managing, identifying exposure to extreme rainfall, groundwater, watercourse overflow, storm surge and rising sea levels using free, national datasets. The screening tool gave every building a risk level, which can help to identify where further investigation is needed.

Laura presented the findings of the screening to be that the groundwater creates the broadest exposure, while extreme rainfall accounts for the largest share of severe risk, highlighting how the greatest physical risk does not necessarily produce the grates adaptation costs. The tool will help the housing organisations prioritise and improve decisions during renovations and support dialogue with municipalities, utilities and consultants.

Skanska

Jeanette Sveder Lunding from Skanska presented a survey where 365 Swedish construction companies found that approximately 70% expect stronger climate adaptation requirements within five years, including skills development, damage and disruption risks and business opportunities. She highlights how stronger collaboration across clients, authorities, designers, contractors and operators is necessary. She further highlighted the contractor’s role to connect strategies, design and deliveries through technical expertise and knowledge and create value through resilience, risk reduction, innovation and improved long term asset performance.

She presented practical examples including Barkabystaden where the river is brought above the ground creating storm water capacity while improving water quality, biodiversity, public amenities and material reuse. At Packhuskajen in Göteborg, a 150-year-old quay is being raised and strengthens for flooding while also delivering biodiversity, public amenities and lower carbon construction. She highlights that the main priorities are clearer requirements, stronger expertise, closer collaboration and scaling proven solution across the industry.

Next Steps

The afternoon was dedicated to roundtable discussions for the participants in Reykjavík, exploring the two topics: digitalising LCA, including aspects of the CPR, Digital Building Logbook, and DPP and climate change adaptation of the built environment, including mapping and tracking of climate risks.

Authorities and stakeholders from across the Nordic countries and Estonia explored challenges and opportunities within these topics, which will further inform the ongoing work within the Nordic Sustainable Construction programme.

Watch or rewatch the full recording of the forum here