Whole-life greenhouse gas emission reduction and removal strategies for buildings: Impacts and diffusion potentials across EU Member States

Abstract

As the European Union (EU) is aiming to realize climate neutrality by 2050, there is a need to investigate greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and carbon dioxide removal strategies (CRRS) from a life cycle perspective. Existing literature lacks harmonization of building-related strategies considering the whole-life cycle of buildings and the interlinkages across life cycle stages. The aim and novelty of this study was to systematically identify, classify and quantify the impacts of CRRS, as well as assess their applicability in different EU Member States. We identified a total of 35 measures grouped in 11 CRRS for the whole-life cycle of buildings. We classified these measures according to various criteria, such as the avoid-shift-improve framework or the life cycle stages influenced. We then assessed the potential diffusion of these strategies in each EU Member State up to 2050 via qualitative assessment criteria. We could achieve notable short-term reductions in GHG emissions by improving use-phase energy use, selecting low-carbon materials or reducing the per capital space demand. In the medium to long term, the applicability and reduction potential of strategies such as circularity and prioritizing renovation over new construction will increase as supply chains and skills develop across the EU. Due to their different potentials and times of implementation, the entire range of strategies is needed to support building and construction transition efforts.

Keywords: Embodied greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; Low-carbon strategies; Net-zero building; Prospective life cycle assessment (LCA); Systematic literature review (SLR); Whole-life carbon (WLC).