Environmental Performance Of Buildings Research Articles

SM-BIM: A NEW CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION-MAKING PROCESS BASED ON SMART MATERIALS AND BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING

ABSTRACT Because the construction sector exerts a considerable environmental effect, especially on building materials, a growing interest in environmental design and construction has emerged. The United Nations has set sustainable development goals (SDGs) for 2030 to protect the environment, including energy conservation and doubling the global rate of improving energy efficiency, because building materials significantly affect energy consumption. Thus, building-material selection at the initial design phase is critical, and random selection of building materials often involves subjectivity, uncertainty, and ambiguity. This process costs time and resources while resulting in the inefficient environmental performance of buildings. Therefore, this study proposes the use of building-information modeling (BIM) as a tool because of its importance in attaining sustainability to aid in the selection process of smart materials (SMs) based on specified criteria and make the selection process faster and more accurate. This method is accomplished through a theoretical study of SMs and using a conceptual framework through four phases for multicriteria decision-making to improve energy efficiency and reduce the energy consumption of buildings. To pursue SDG 7, a theoretical and deductive approach is used.

A Theoretical Framework to Promote LCA in the Construction Industry of Saudi Arabia

The building and construction sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), experiencing rapid growth, is in the early stages of embracing sustainability measures. In the years ahead, the booming building sector in business-as-usual scenarios may pose serious energy and environmental challenges for the Kingdom. This situation will require the Saudi building sector to adopt robust sustainability measures. Embedding life cycle assessment (LCA) as a standard practice can be a useful strategy for improving the energy and environmental footprint of buildings. This paper proposes a theoretical framework within which to promote LCA in the Saudi Arabian construction industry. This framework comprises three pillars: policy, social, and technical. The framework covers the role of the Saudi building sector’s stakeholders such as policy makers, building industry professionals, representatives of relevant governmental bodies, and academics. Adaptation of this LCA framework can help substantially improve the energy and environmental performance of buildings. The proposed LCA framework is aligned with the international as well as the Saudi government’s drive for sustainability in the building sector.

Façade feature extraction for urban performance assessments: Evaluating algorithm applicability across diverse building morphologies

Urban feature extraction methods have presented multiple opportunities in the field of environmental building performance studies, and urban assessments. With reference to façade features, window size and position are key parameters that influence occupant perception and environmental performance of indoor spaces. A myriad of methods have been proposed to automatically detect façade window layouts from street view images yet it is still unclear how to assess the strengths and limitations of these methods or how they can be combined for higher detection performance. This paper aims to add clarity for those aiming to use computer vision techniques for façade layout extraction for urban level sustainability assessments. An automated pipeline to enable the extraction and detection of WWRs (Window to Wall ratios) is introduced that is based on two fundamentally different computational approaches; a grammar-based edge detection framework (Method 1) and a learning-based method (Method 2) that utilizes CNNs (Convolutional Neural Networks). The paper then compares the detection efficacy of both methods, focusing on WWR accuracy, in New York and Lisbon, including their ability to extract more detailed façade properties such as floor-to-floor heights. The study finds that the learning-based method shows lower error scores across the two cities. In Lisbon, 69 % of conditions were detected within the 10 % error range and 91 % were within the 20 % range under Method 1. Under Method 2, 82.5 % of conditions were within the 10 % error range and 95 % were within the 20 % range. In New York, 66 % of conditions were within the 10 % error range and 90 % were within the 20 % range under Method 1 while 77.5 % of conditions were within the 10 % error range and 93 % were within the 20 % range under Method 2. Finally, a hybrid method is proposed to leverage the strengths of the two models, and higher accuracies are obtained in both the New York and Lisbon dataset. In New York, 96.5 % are now detected within the 20 % error range and 81.5 % within the 10 % error range. In Lisbon, 96 % are now detected within the 20 % error range and 83.5 % within the 10 % error range. With reference to the total building height extraction formulated under Method 2, the results show a relative error of 3.5 % in height estimation in the sample set.

Temporal considerations in life cycle assessments of wooden buildings: Implications for design incentives

The building and construction sector plays a vital role in mitigating climate change. Consequently, the use of wood and bio-based materials as a strategy for reducing the environmental impact of buildings is increasing. However, along with realising the potential environmental benefits of biomass, the focus on assessment methods and their inherent uncertainties increases. Typically, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used for quantifying the environmental performance of buildings but is often criticised for not considering temporal factors related to emissions. Therefore, dynamic LCA approaches have been developed. To understand how dynamic LCA influences building design incentives, this study compares traditional LCA and dynamic LCA results on 45 cases of wooden buildings. The study finds that the overall ranking of the buildings’ environmental performance is stable, irrespective of the method used. However, the dynamic biogenic carbon accounting methods significantly influence the results and shift burdens between upfront and future emissions. Therefore, methods for time-distributed biogenic carbon accounting crucially need addressing in LCAs of wood and bio-based products.

Development of a Green Building Assessment System at The Green Building Planning Stage in Indonesia

The fact that more people are living in cities is an important challenge for the construction industry in designing and developing cities. This industry emphasizes to have sustainable construction development principles, one of which is Green Building strategies. Because of this, several developed countries have implemented Green Building Rating Systems (GBRS) to assess Green Building achievements. Green Building Rating Systems were developed to help professionals measure building performance, and meet the requirements of sustainable design and construction. In Indonesia, there are 2 assessment standards as a Green Building Rating System, namely PUPR Ministerial Regulation No. 21 of 2021 which is a regulation issued by the Ministry of PUPR as the Ministry in charge of Public Works and Public Housing Affairs in this case includes buildings and GREENSHIP as a product of the Green Building Council Indonesia (GBCI), which is a independent institution. Different GBRS have similar objectives such as verifying the environmental performance of buildings, using natural resources efficiently, estimating the energy performance of buildings, and encouraging more energy-efficient building designs. The purpose of this research is to identify Green Building variables that are most suitable and relevant to the current conditions in Indonesia with a comparative analysis.

Actual sources of life cycle impacts: Elementary processes and flows causing environmental impacts for a typical Brazilian building

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a valuable tool to enhance the environmental performance of buildings. However, the increasing number of impact categories required by construction LCA standards makes it difficult to collect primary data and understand LCA results. Furthermore, most LCA studies only analyse aggregated impact results, failing to identify the specific processes that should be optimized to mitigate environmental impacts. This work shows the additional insights that can be gained from analysing disaggregated LCA results. We identify the specific elementary processes and flows causing each environmental impact for a typical Brazilian building used as a case study. This cradle-to-grave LCA study covers the 16 impact categories required by EN 15804. The findings reveal that the environmental impacts of buildings are primarily caused by a few elementary processes and flows. Multiple impact categories share common sources, implying that at least half of the indicators convey redundant information for decision-making as they point to the same actions for mitigating those impacts. Additionally, some impacts are caused by background elementary processes beyond the influence of construction stakeholders. Interpreting LCA results at the elementary process level allows us to reflect on the suitability of LCA to support decisions. It suggests potential strategies to streamline the LCA scope currently specified in construction LCA standards by excluding redundant indicators or impacts determined by uncontrollable background processes. Streamlining LCA can expedite the adoption of the life cycle approach in the construction sector and improve its contribution to informed decision-making.

Developing a multi-objective optimization model for improving building's environmental performance over the whole design process

This study is built upon two previous articles which focus on identifying the key design variables affecting the life-cycle environmental impacts in each design stage of the building design process. This research aims to investigate the trade-offs between embodied and operational impacts and explore potential reduction in the total environmental impacts of a building by varying the identified design variables in each stage of the design process. A multi-objective optimization model based on BIM and LCA integration has been developed to find out the design solution with the optimal trade-offs between the embodied and operational impacts and the option with the minimal environmental impacts. Applying the proposed model to a mid-rise residential building, the results showed that the design process has the potential to lower the environmental impacts of the building by approximately 47.6 %. Moreover, the potential for reducing carbon emissions is greater in the early design stages, with the potential to lower emissions by up to 32.5 %, compared to the lower emission reduction potential of approximately 7.5 % in the detailed and construction design stages. Furthermore, solutions aimed at addressing the trade-off between embodied and operational impacts were identified in each design stage. The study provides an insight into the understanding of how building design can be optimized to mitigate environmental impacts.

A statistical analysis of life cycle assessment for buildings and buildings’ refurbishment research

This study aims to examine the literature related to environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for buildings and buildings' refurbishment from 1994 to 2022 by implementing a statistical analysis based on 'Web of Science' databases. LCA is viewed as a consolidated process that measures the environmental performance of buildings and their services, aiming to address the potential environmental impacts over the life cycle of buildings. A total of 1336 retrieved journal publications for LCA for buildings and 169 journal publications for LCA in building refurbishment. The articles' patterns were investigated in terms of subject categories, journals, countries, and the most highly cited articles. The findings reveal that LCA publications for buildings and building refurbishment have increased over the period 1994–2022, with China being the leading country contributing to the largest number of articles and possessing the most significant influence, followed by the USA for LCA in buildings. While Portugal is the leading country, followed by Italy, for LCA Buildings' Refurbishments. 97.08% of the publications were written in English, 2.04% in German, and 0.68% in Spanish. French and Japanese were the remaining languages, each with one publication, accounting for 0.2% of the 1336 building LCA publications. In contrast to refurbishment, LCA publications were written in only two languages, English (98.7%) and German (1.3%). Results show that the subject area differs depending on the type of LCA publication, with building LCA focusing on construction engineering while refurbishment focused on environmental topics. According to the IF, the most influential journal was renewable & sustainable energy for buildings and refurbishment LCA. However, journal distribution within LCA is still limited, and assessment methods and theme analysis still need to catch up with a clear gap in LCA in environmental impact mitigation and analysis methodologies, which will be a prominent direction of future building LCA research.

Developing a tool to assess the performance of educational built environments for students with multiple sclerosis

ABSTRACT Statistics indicate that cases of multiple sclerosis (MS), which can cause mobility and sensory disabilities, are increasing worldwide. While design criteria for educational built environments that meet MS students’ needs have been researched, the creation of holistic design guidelines (DG-MS) has rarely been investigated. This study uses holistic DG-MS to create an educational building performance assessment tool (MS-BPAT) to evaluate the suitability of educational built environments for meeting MS students’ needs. A multimethodological approach is used in which academic and medical experts evaluate the MS-BPAT for its importance, affiliation, and clarity. The MS-BPAT is then tested by assessing two high school buildings in Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The results indicate that the MS-BPAT tool can accurately assess the fulfillment of MS-DG design criteria in educational built environments and detect the design barriers. The MS-BPAT’s validity as an assessment tool is confirmed by comparing its results with field visits, interviews, and student satisfaction. The MS-BPAT is then finalized, and recommendations are made for improving educational built environment performance to meet the needs of students with MS.

A practical decision process for building façade performance optimization by integrating machine learning and evolutionary algorithms

ABSTRACT With the development of building design parameterization, more and more designers want to explore design options that optimize performance. However, the enormous time and costs that accompany optimization exploration are often beyond the reach of design practices. The application of machine learning in the construction field in recent years has offered potential solutions. Training predictive models through machine learning enables the rapid assessment of built environment performance and thus brings the optimization process closer to reality. In this paper, we mainly developed a process that integrates machine learning predictive model and multi-objective algorithms to achieve rapid evaluation and obtain optimal solutions. Using façade design as a case study, we demonstrate the design decision process with regard to the optimized solutions. The results showed that, through the proposed visual design decision process, designers can easily compare the performance and design appearance of different solutions and make informed decisions. In addition to saving 87% of time compared to the traditional simulation process, the integrated process also introduced the predictive model, which can achieve optimization exploration in one day. These results all demonstrate that the use of an integrated approach boasts considerable time advantages and potential feasibility in design practice.

Development of an innovative translucent–photoluminescent coating for smart windows applications: An experimental and numerical investigation

Glazed envelopes play a strategic role in the environmental performance of buildings, significantly affecting indoor comfort and energy consumption while allowing the penetration of natural light into the interior space. Over the last few years, the research activity related to the building envelope has been focused on the achievement of higher energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality standards, looking towards promising solutions to satisfy the management of solar gains and building occupants’ needs. In this view, the present study introduces photoluminescent materials as an innovative coating for smart window applications, exploring their potential for visual comfort. An innovative, small-large scale experimental methodology is developed and applied to evaluate the dynamic response of such innovative applications under realistic boundary conditions. Results prove that a translucent–photoluminescent solution can provide a homogeneous daylight diffusion during the day and guarantee a general sense of orientation during the evening without demanding artificial lighting. Furthermore, numerical simulations showed the remarkable ability of the translucent–photoluminescent material to reduce both the intensity and the perception of glare throughout the year.

Approaches for assessing embodied environmental effects during the building design process

Buildings and construction are among the leading contributors towards global greenhouse gas emissions, resource demands, waste, and pollution, placing a massive strain on our natural environment. Until recently, mitigation strategies have primarily concentrated on reductions in operational energy, failing to account for embodied effects; those associated with the manufacture of construction goods, construction activities, and end of life considerations. In recent years, there has been an increased recognition of the growing significance of embodied effects, and the opportunity to reduce these during the building design process. However, life cycle assessment (LCA) tools used to quantify environmental flows are often perceived as being too time-consuming or complicated to incorporate into prevalent building design workflows. The aim of this study was to review approaches for assessing embodied environmental effects during the building design process, including the LCA tools and environmental data used to achieve this. A systematic review was conducted of academic and grey literature. The study identified three main approaches for incorporating LCA into the building design process: simplified LCA, detailed LCA and incremental LCA. Further analysis of these approaches was conducted, based on case studies. General attributes and design considerations were identified, and mapped against the early design, and detailed design stages. A wide variety of LCA approaches were reviewed, responding to various challenges for incorporating LCA into the building design process, with no singular approach able to completely satisfy all requirements. Findings highlight the lack of incremental LCA approaches, and the need for further research to understand how LCA approaches can be better used to improve the embodied environmental performance of buildings during the design process.

BIM and LCA integration methodologies: A critical analysis and proposed guidelines

There is growing concern about mitigating the environmental impacts of the construction industry. In this context, research has increasingly sought methods to integrate life cycle assessment (LCA) with building information modeling (BIM) to enhance the management of information in the development process of engineering projects and to increase the environmental performance of buildings. Despite the importance and urgency of the theme, this research finds that publications on the subject are mostly recent and that 70% of all publications were published between 2020 and 2022. In this context, there is a need for greater standardization in the research to be produced on the subject with regard to best practices and conclusions, thus enabling a better comparison between them to direct the best paths to be adopted by the construction industry. Although there are review articles highlighting the challenges and opportunities involved in the use of integrated BIM and LCA (BIM-LCA) methodologies, the choice of reference article for adoption is often hampered by the absence of a conceptual and methodological framework. The purpose of this article is to perform a systematic review based on the ProKnow-C methodology, perform critical analysis and present guidelines for the preparation of BIM-LCA articles. A total of 75 studies, 13 reviews and 62 original articles, are selected, and it is found that there are gaps and challenges in the implementation of BIM-LCA methodologies in the construction industry to be explored. The production of standardized articles that present consolidated and adequately presented best practices will enable the construction of a relevant benchmark to reduce subjectivity in decision making in regard to the design and development of engineering projects and in the execution of constructions, increasing environmental performance.

Carbon footprint of low-energy buildings in the United Kingdom: Effects of mitigating technological pathways and decarbonization strategies

There is a limited comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of adopted carbon mitigation strategies for buildings over their life cycle, that are concerned with temporal perspectives of emissions. Accordingly, this paper explores a life cycle assessment (LCA) to address the concerns regarding mitigating the carbon footprint of a UK timber-frame low-energy dwelling. In particular, it aims to investigate the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction in terms of three different heating and ventilation options, and to analyze the influence of decarbonization of electricity production as well as the technological progress of the waste treatment of timber on the building's environmental performance. Thus, the whole life‑carbon of the building case studies was evaluated for a total of eight investigated prospective scenarios, and they were compared to the LCA results of the baseline scenario, where the existing technology and context remained constant over time. Results show that using a compact heat pump would lead to a significant whole life-cycle emission reduction of the dwelling, by 19 %; while GHG emission savings can be reinforced if the assessed systems are employed simultaneously with grid decarbonization, exhibiting a 25 %–60 % reduction compared to the baseline scenario. Moreover, technological changes in the waste treatments of timber products could substantially reduce the buildings' embodied emissions, representing 3 %–23 %. From these emission-saving measures, the contribution of material efficiency strategies to achieve more embodied carbon savings should be highlighted in future construction practices.

Environmental assessment of a new building envelope material derived from urban agriculture wastes: the case of the tomato plants stems

PurposeDecarbonizing cities is one of today’s biggest challenges. In this regard, particular attention has been paid on improving the environmental performance of buildings. In this framework, this work consists in assessing the environmental impact of an innovative building envelope component derived from urban agriculture (UA) wastes. In fact, rooftop UA seems to be a possible solution to the rising food demand due to increasing urban demographic growth. Consequently, rooftop UA wastes need to be treated in sustainable ways.MethodsThis study aims to determine the carbon footprint and embodied energy of a new infill wall material, derived from UA wastes produced by a building rooftop greenhouse tomato crop, and evaluate the potential biogenic carbon that such by-product could fix temporally until its end of life. After an initial description of the manufacturing process of the new material, its carbon footprint and embodied energy have been calculated by means of the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology according to the ISO 14044 and the ISO 14067 guidelines adapted to the analyzed context. In particular, the inventory analysis is based on data collected from the production of samples of the new material at the laboratory scale.Results and discussionThe results of the LCA indicate that, when the biogenic carbon fixed in the UA wastes is considered, a negative carbon footprint of − 0.2 kg CO2 eq. per kg of material can be obtained. Hence, it can be assumed that from a life cycle perspective the material is able to fix carbon emissions instead of emitting them. Specifically, for the considered scenario, approximately 0.42 kg CO2 eq./m2 per year could be sequestered. However, the crop area required to produce enough waste to manufacture a unit of material is quite high. Therefore, future studies should focus on individuate solutions to reduce the density of the new component, and also different urban crops with higher waste production rates.ConclusionsThe outcomes of the study put in evidence the potential of the new proposed infill wall component in fixing carbon emissions from UA, allowing to also compensate those relating to the production and transportation stages of the component life cycle. Moreover, producing by-products with UA wastes, hence temporally storing the carbon fixed by crops, may contribute to reduce the carbon cycles speed conversely to traditional waste management solutions, other than lower new raw materials depletion.

Relationship between Lean and Green buildings in Egypt

There is a lack of awareness about the added environmental value of theintegration between Lean and Green building design. This study is investigatingthe relationship between Lean and Green building design represented in theEgyptian rating system (Green pyramid).The research clarifies Lean Construction concepts and principles whichreduce waste and increase the quality through enhance building performance.Also, focuses on analyzing the Egyptian rating system (Green Pyramid) whichwas established to ensure sustainability in Egypt, reduce the environmentalimpact of construction and raising the awareness toward the importance of greenbuildings to the Egyptian environment.Based on analyzing previous concepts, studying literature review andconsidering the principles of Lean Construction with the criteria of GreenPyramid for certification of environmental performance of buildings forunderstanding the results of their integrations and proposing recommendations tobe added at the Green pyramid Egyptian rating system as approach for greenbuilding design in Egypt.

Evaluation of passive envelope systems with radiative sky cooling and thermally insulated glazing materials for cooling

Passive envelope systems for building cooling are of great significance to achieve sustainable and low-energy buildings. Although promising advances in radiative sky cooling and enhanced glazing materials have been achieved recently, there still lacks performance evaluation on integrating these novel materials as passive building envelope systems for the cooling purpose. To this end, the study newly proposes a passive envelope system by synthetically incorporating radiative cooling roofs, colored cooling walls and thermally insulated glazing windows into a standard-compliant commercial building archetype. Comprehensive building thermal, energy, economic and environmental performance across a variety of typical climates in the United States was evaluated. The results were compared to the baseline model, in which the envelope properties are location-dependent and in accordance with ASHRAE Standard 90.1 (β = 0.3, βvis = 0.3, ε = 0.9 for exterior walls, β = 0.23–0.55, ε = 0.75–0.9 for roofs, and U = 1.9–2.8, SHGC = 0.23–0.38, VT = 0.253–0.418 for windows). The highly solar reflective and thermally emissive radiative cooling coating (β = 0.98, ε = 0.97) applied on roofs is able to achieve the cooling electricity savings ranging from 8.2% to 29.7% in response to different climate regions. In comparison, the colored (yellow) cooling paint (β = 0.72, βvis = 0.59, ε = 0.95) applied on walls can achieve annual cooling energy savings regionally from 3.5% to 9.3%. Besides, the thermally insulated windows with the improved visual comfort can save cooling energy from −2.1% to 3.7%. From the maximized cost saving perspective, the optimal design schemes of passive cooling building envelopes for each region were accordingly determined, by which the net cost saving ranges from 0.03 to 2.13 $/(m2·year) in response to climate variability. Notably, the optimal building envelopes regionally correspond to the net avoided CO2 emissions ranging from 0.11 to 16.72 kg/(m2·year)), indicating the noticeable carbon neutral potential induced by the proposed passive envelope system. This research is an effort to provide effective passive cooling envelope systems by combining the existing advanced cooling materials towards sustainable and energy-efficient buildings.

Study on Certification Criteria of Building Energy and Environmental Performance in the Context of Achieving Climate Neutrality

Increased greenhouse gas emissions have led to a global warming threat. As a result, countries have tended to focus their decision-making attention on energy-saving strategies. Specifically, the concept of green building has been developed for the construction sector. It aims to create energy-efficient structural activities (new constructions, repairs, or renovated constructions) that will be carried out in line with the determined criteria. With the concept of green building and the need to establish criteria and standards to ensure energy efficiency, green building certification systems have come to the fore. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) certification systems have been developed. This article investigates the achievements of the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) category of LEED-certified projects in Türkiye and Europe. A comparison study of countries was carried out, based on the fourth version of the LEED BD+C framework that was developed for new green building projects. The study’s primary goal is to show the linear correlation between market value and IEQ. It was revealed that the gross domestic product does not affect IEQ applications. Although Türkiye was ranked first in applying for IEQ credits, its economic development level is lower than that of other European countries.

КВИНТЭССЕНЦИЯ ТОТАЛЬНОГО ЭКОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО ПРОЕКТИРОВАНИЯ В ДИЗАЙНЕ

Recently, a new round of transformation has been taking place in design thinking, which consists of considering a design object as a single whole with nature. Nature is considered from the point of view of a formative source, the resource of which can be used in the design and construction of environmental objects in order to create new bioforms, eco-materials and structures to reduce energy consumption while maintaining comfort. The push for sustainable design has intensified with the launch of the Building Research Institute’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM). It introduces the first green building rating system. In addition, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has formulated new criteria aimed at improving the environmental performance of buildings through its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). In Russia, the existing “Green” standards create practices for solving broader problems of sustainable development, such as zero-energy construction concepts, living, regenerative and restorative construction concepts that improve the natural environment or simulate natural processes. This will initiate the search for new design strategies using the tools of immersive design concepts for the development of socially-oriented projects aimed at supporting the global trend of total environmental design. The article analyzes the artificial and natural elements of the exposition complexes from the perspective of ecological design. In Russia, the existing “Green” standards create practices for solving broader problems of sustainable development, such as zero-energy construction concepts, living, regenerative and restorative construction concepts that improve the natural environment or simulate natural processes. This will initiate the search for new design strategies using the tools of immersive design concepts for the development of socially-oriented projects aimed at supporting the global trend of total environmental design. The article analyzes the artificial and natural elements of the exposition complexes from the perspective of ecological design. Examples of the organization of sensory, interactive exhibition and development spaces are given. The role of ecological design in modern information and educational culture is revealed. The article discusses the principles of integration of the virtual environment with the information space, describes the structure and technology of obtaining information, structuring and compiling databases, coordinating, interacting and managing design forms and objects.

Defining dynamic science-based climate change budgets for countries and absolute sustainable building targets

Given the current climate crisis countries and sectors need to set targets and address reduction potentials for their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The current use of bottom-up benchmarks for the building sector enables relative sustainability comparisons. However, we must start relating the environmental performance of buildings to science-based targets. Therefore, this study introduces a procedure for downscaling the global GHG budget to country-specific top-down targets for embodied impacts in buildings. Earlier studies have shown how sharing principles can be applied to calculate absolute limit values for buildings, however, this study will show how a dynamic GHG budget in line with the Paris Agreement target of limiting temperature increases to 1.5 °C can be applied. The global GHG budget is then scaled down to national level and further down to the building sector, and finally to the construction of a new building. The downscaling method tested four combinations of the sharing principles applying equal per capita, ability to pay, utilitarianism, and acquired rights. The proposed procedure was applied to the Danish building sector, revealing that for the four sharing principles, the national legislation exceeds the average target values by up to 220% in 2023. By relating global climate targets to national targets for buildings, the results have the potential to guide decision-makers such as building designers in setting relevant science-based targets as well as policymakers in setting the necessary ambition level for national strategies related to the transformation of the building sector into sustainable practices.