Reduced carbon footprints of buildings
New Finnish standards and assessments
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13132274 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Matti Kuittinen (0000-0003-3101-458X), Tarja Häkkinen (0000-0003-0744-5590, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 1 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 182-197 |
| Publication date | 2020-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Buildings and Cities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2632-6655 • E-ISSN: 2632-6655 |
| Publisher | Ubiquity Press, Ltd. (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.5334/bc.30 |
| OpenAlex | W3033959705 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 13 |
The Nordic countries are working towards regional carbon neutrality ahead of the European Union’s goals. Finland is aiming at carbon neutrality by 2035, and developing a set of policies, including legislation for low-carbon construction. The new approach includes normative carbon limits for different building types before 2025. Finland’s Ministry of the Environment has developed an assessment method and will develop a generic emission database. The database will cover all main types of products and materials, sources of energy, modes of transportation as well as other main processes such as site operations and waste management. Furthermore, the criteria for green public procurement have been developed from the viewpoint of reducing the climate impacts of buildings: incorporating global warming potential and climate benefits. However, there are several open questions regarding both the assessment method and the database. These questions are outlined and discussed. The consideration of the foreseen decarbonisation of energy, the relation of the generic data to specific data and the requirements for generating valid generic data are key issues of discussion. The Finnish assessment method is also compared with the methodological development in other Nordic countries and to the proposed Level(s) framework of the European Commission.Policy relevanceThe carbon limits for buildings will introduce the construction sector to life-cycle approach and assessment. The scope of optimisation will widen from operational emissions to buildings’ full life-cycle. This brings changes to building design, as the carbon footprint limit becomes an additional performance requirement for a building permission. For product manufacturers, this may lead to increased market demand of environmental product declarations and their availability in digital format. From the client side, the introduction of limits opens a possibility for setting quantitative targets that go beyond the legal minimum. Furthermore, the proposed concept of carbon handprint (for positive carbon impacts) may become an award criterion in public procurement. The ongoing normative development in the Nordic countries has timely relevance for the development of the Level(s) framework, a common assessment scheme for the European Union. Fora for discussion and co-development are therefore also required at the European level
Business · Carbon Footprint · Economics · Environmental economics · Environmental resource management · European union · Greenhouse gas · Legislation · Life-cycle assessment · Procurement · Production (economics · Scope (computer science · Computer Science · Environmental Impact and Sustainability · Environmental Science · Life Cycle Costing Analysis · Sustainable Building Design and Assessment
Developing Buildings’ Life Cycle Assessment in Circular Economy-Comparing methods for assessing carbon footprint of reusable components
Evaluating past and future building operational emissions
Towards net zero
The importance of organization type
Climate impacts of timber-frame buildings in a life cycle perspective
Land use and housing policy implications on building whole life carbon
Residents’ Attitudes towards Wooden Facade Renovation and Additional Floor Construction in Finland
Critical review of the drivers and barriers for adopting net zero carbon procurement for construction projects
Understanding demolition
Renovate or replace? Consequential replacement LCA framework for buildings
Embodied GHG emissions of buildings – The hidden challenge for effective climate change mitigation
Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) of buildings and the building sector
Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability
A scenario analysis of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of a new residential area
| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |