Decreasing threshold limit values for carbon footprint from buildings  and Strategy for a holistic building regulation (HOB)

In May 2024 a broad political agreement was reached, which includes tightening the requirements for the climate impact of buildings, covering more constructions, and including the construction process itself in the calculation of the building’s CO2e emissions. 

The Danish government agreed on four different limit values depending on the type of building and its size. The average CO2e limit is set at 7.1 kg CO2e/m2/year, meaning that approximately 85% of the new constructions covered by the requirement must perform better in terms of climate impact compared to 2021. 

The heightened ambition in climate requirements stems from the fact that the construction, renovation, and operation of buildings constitute a significant part of Denmark’s energy and resource consumption. At the same time, the industry has expressed a desire to strengthen and accelerate the green transition in construction. 

The acceleration of the green transition creates a need for the development of a simplified and holistic building code focusing on four themes:  

• Technical demands for new buildings (adjustment of demands must support CO2 reductions)  

• Administrative demands (adjustment of building application processing and certification schemes must balance and smoothen process) 

• Technical demands for existing buildings (adjustment of demands must promote preservation)  

• Digitalisation (standardised documentation must boost efficient and automated processes and contribute to data collection)