A comparative assessment of the development of GHG emission criteria and benchmark values for buildings in Norway

Abstract

GHG emission criteria and benchmark values for buildings are being developed internationally to meet climate goals in the Paris agreement. However, there is a distinct lack of harmonisation in approaches making it difficult to compare construction projects or implement and apply benchmarking at a national or international level. Norway is no exception. In recent years, multiple GHG emission criteria and benchmark values have been developed and tested to measure and evaluate the environmental sustainability of Norwegian buildings during their life cycle. These include proposals from Ydalir Masterplan, the research centre for zero emission buildings in smart cities, FutureBuilt ZERO and BREEAM-NOR v6.0. This paper presents and reviews these approaches in relation to recent Norwegian building code requirements for the reporting of GHG emissions. The paper compares the approaches in terms of methodologies, typologies, reference study period, life cycle modules, building parts, limitations and advantages. The results show that there are large differences in approaches which leads to a disparity in benchmarking levels. Further work is required to harmonise and create an accepted branch standard for benchmarking GHG emissions from buildings for the construction industry in Norway. In addition, it would be of benefit to establish a national database for GHG emission accounting so that better benchmark values can be established.