Rules for assessment and declaration of buildings with net-zero GHG-emissions: an international survey – A Contribution to IEA EBC Annex 72: Energy in Buildings and Communities Technology Collaboration Programme

Around 40% of global CO2 emissions can be attributed to the construction, maintenance, and use of buildings. Reducing these greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is an essential goal in the context of sustainable development (IEA 2019). This is expressed, among other things, in SDG 13: Climate change. Reducing these emissions requires considerable efforts from all those involved in the construction and building sector as actors, decision makers and service providers, including upstream and downstream industries. In order to be able to design and implement appropriate reduction measures, the calculation and assessment of GHG emissions in the life cycle of buildings with the help of indicators, calculation rules, assessment methods and benchmarks is a prerequisite. Particularly benchmarks provide the basis for requirements for carbon performance as part of the environmental performance of buildings. They can be used both in the context of sustainability assessment systems, funding programs, building standards, and policymakers’ actions as well as provide the basis for individual design targets.

A new approach is the top-down derivation of benchmarks in an effort to respect planetary boundaries. This involves protecting the natural basis of life by ensuring that future new construction and refurbishment measures lead to buildings with (almost) no negative effects on the climate during their lifecycle which led to the “climate-neutral building” approach in line with numerous are global initiatives.