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

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.publishedVersio

Historien om utslippsfrie bygge- og anleggsplasser i Norge

Utviklingen mot utslippsfri byggeprosess er godt i gang i Norge, men veien videre avhenger både av teknologiutviklingen og hva som skjer på det internasjonale markedet.publishedVersio

A mapping of electric construction machinery and electric construction sites in Norway

The Norwegian construction industry is responsible for ca. 2.2 million tonnes CO2eq in 2021. The rise in GHG emissions, noise and air pollution in the built environment is becoming a potential hazard due to the large growth of construction activities within cities. As a response, actors from the Norwegian construction industry have converted diesel construction machinery to electric operation to reduce these impacts. As a result, the electric construction machinery market in Norway has grown exponentially. However, access to electric construction machinery varies greatly. The aim of this paper is to map the available electric construction machinery on the Norwegian market as first steps towards creating a database of electric construction machinery for subsequent energy and power demand modelling of fully electric construction sites. This paper also maps the regional differences in construction machine availability through mapping the known public construction sites in Norway that use electric construction machinery.publishedVersio

A survey of the requirements for emission-free building and construction sites

The City of Oslo’s Climate Agency has engaged SINTEF to carry out a survey of emissionfree building and construction sites for Oslo Municipality's projects. The principal themes are electricity supply, emission-free construction machinery and vehicles, and charging logistics, studying associated experiences and barriers. This report assesses building site experience from relevant projects and includes detailed studies of machine fleets, energy consumption and energy supply. The results indicate that the development towards emission-free building and construction sites is progressing rapidly, although some barriers and challenges remain. All of the municipality's building and construction sites shall be emission-free by 2025. Standard climate and environment requirements for Oslo Municipality's building and construction sites were introduced in 2019. With this new framework, contractors who can offer emission free construction machinery and vehicles in building and construction projects are awarded contracts where Oslo Municipality is the building owner. This is an innovative use of procurement, targeted to promote a quicker transition to emission free completion of building and construction activities in Oslo. In 2019, access to emission free equipment was limited, and the market for emission free building and construction services was still in an early phase of development. Standard requirements were introduced to contribute to the Municipality's goal that all building and construction activities in Oslo Municipality's public sector shall be emission free by 2025. This survey shows that development so far is in line with the goal of Oslo Municipality's public sector shall be emission free by 2025, and the framework has succeeded in its purpose. Between 1st January and 30th June 2021, 73 competitions for tender were published on behalf of Oslo Municipality for the construction sector. Of these, 66 competitions followed Oslo Municipality’s standard contractual requirements and award criteria, and eight stipulated the use of emission-free concepts, the minimum requirement in six of these being the use of emission-free excavators. This means that seven of these 73 projects were either too small or did not use electric construction machinery. There are now at least 36 construction projects in Oslo Municipality (mapped in this report) that use emission free construction machinery, vehicles and equipment. This mapping shows that it is unproblematic with smaller electric machines and equipment. But there are some challenges relating to energy supply and charging logistics when multiple, large construction machineries operate at the same time. It is reported that electric construction machineries generate less noise, less pollution, better air quality and a better working environment. The results show that there are different understandings of what an emission free building or construction site involves, and that definitions of these terms should be standardised. This will most likely be achieved through the on-going development of a Norwegian Standard prNS3770 for emission free building and construction sites. The table below summarises barriers, challenges, possibilities and solutions for emission free construction machineries and vehicles, energy supply and charging logistics.publishedVersion10202628

A chronological development of a framework for emission free construction sites in Norway

The building and construction sector is responsible for 3.4% of total GHG emissions in Norway. Around 95% of these emissions arise from the combustion of fossil fuels for the operation of construction machinery and transport. This highlights the importance of transitioning to renewable energy sources for the operation of construction sites. To facilitate this transition, a new concept is emerging in Norway, called emission free construction sites. To fully implement this concept, a clear and consistent definition of emission free construction sites and a commonly agreed stepwise approach to decarbonisation of construction activities is required. This paper presents a chronology of the development of emission free construction sites in Norway to further develop a framework. First, a review of experiences from different research and on-going national activities are presented as a background. The results from applying this framework on construction sites in Norway are presented and issues around harmonisation of definitions, standards, and system boundaries are discussed. The results of this paper are relevant for actors within the construction industry that are interested in reducing GHG emissions from construction works. In conclusion, this paper presents the first steps towards the decarbonisation of construction sites in Norway and demonstrates how Norway has become a testbed for the electrification of construction machinery on construction sites.publishedVersio

Towards emission free construction sites in Northern Norway: Results from a regional survey

The concept of emission free construction sites (EFCS) has emerged as a prioritised measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Norwegian construction activities. EFCS have been evaluated through several pilot projects in Southern Norway, whilst none are found in Northern Norway. This study aims to investigate the major barriers and success factors for developing EFCS-projects in Northern Norway through a digital survey amongst construction industry representatives. The results indicate that major barriers for EFCS implementation are related to limited access and capacity of electricity and power supply, and limited availability and high costs of emission free technologies. Similar challenges are identified from EFCS projects in Southern Norway, making the cold climate, poor infrastructure, and remote conditions in Northern Norway an amplifier of these challenges. The identified success factors are to a large extent aligned with the major barriers, emphasizing improved power supply and charging infrastructure, as well as increased availability of emission free technologies. Predictable and equal requirement specifications in public tenders that reward those who invest in emission free technology are requested, emphasizing the importance of implementing requirements. Further work is needed to gather experience from EFCS pilots in cold and remote areas.publishedVersio

Utslippsfrie bygge- og anleggsplasser i Nord-Norge. Kartlegging av barrierer og suksesskriterier

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Kriterer for sirkulære bygg. Kartlegging av bransjestandard

Kriterier for sirkulære bygg - Kartlegging av bransjestandard Det er behov for videre metodeutvikling av sirkularitet i norske bygninger, inkludert målenheter, definisjoner, systemgrenser og kartlegging av bransjestandard. Denne rapporten samler nåværende statistikk og data for å sette «dagens» bransjestandard for sirkularitet i norske bygg. Resultatene viser at den norske byggenæringen er rundt 7% sirkulær i 2023 ifølge FutureBuilts sirkularitetsindeksmetode. Framskrivingene viser at sirkularitet kan være rundt 14-42% innen 2030 og 34-71% innen 2050 når en rekke politiske og strukturelle tiltak og endringer gjennomføres. Det vises også at dersom målet om full sirkularitet skal oppnås må det settes inn enda flere tiltak. Allikevel er det høye usikkerheter i datakvalitet på grunn av mange antagelser, mange datahull, og et lappeteppe av ulike datakilder. Resultatene fra denne studien er et første steg mot å kartlegge sirkularitet i den norske byggenæringen og viser at et mye mer detaljert datagrunnlag om sirkulær statistikk trengs for å redusere usikkerheter. Resultatene viser hvor mye som må til for at Norges byggenæring skal være fullt sirkulær. Disse resultatene er nyttige for blant annet videreutvikling av FutureBuilts sirkularitetsindeks og Grønn Byggallianses miljødashboard. ZEN partnere FutureBuilt, Bærum kommune, Oslo kommune, Statsbygg, Asplan Viak, og Multiconsult har bidratt til denne rapporten. I tillegg har Entra bidratt.publishedVersio

A comparative assessment of building sustainability schemes in Norway

Various schemes are established to evaluate the sustainability of buildings during their life cycle. These schemes introduce a range of evaluation criteria and indicators and are periodically revised to align with current sustainability trends. This study reviews leading schemes in Norway, and compares their scope, similarities, limitations, and advantages. The review is carried out against a proposed office building in Oslo, Norway. The paper evaluates how the schemes comply with the EU taxonomy and Norwegian building regulations. The schemes are assessed through a literature review and interviews with programme operators. Common sustainability criteria are identified and reviewed. In addition, a comparison of how the schemes address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is conducted. The comparative assessment provides a valuable and practical reference and decision support for project owners in Norway to select the appropriate scheme for their construction project.publishedVersio