The EU has launched a public consultation to define how the global warming potential (GWP) of new buildings should be calculated. This requirement will become mandatory from 2028 — a step towards low-carbon materials and full transparency across the building life cycle.
The European Commission has opened a public consultation period to refine the rules for calculating the global warming potential (GWP) of new buildings, combining embodied emissions (from construction materials) with direct and indirect operational emissions. The legal basis for this initiative is Article 7 of the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which introduces the requirement to disclose GWP values for new constructions as part of the building’s energy performance documentation.
According to the draft regulation, these calculations must appear on the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of large buildings (over 1,000 m²) from January 2028, and for all new buildings from January 2030. The aim is to provide a harmonised and simplified approach that encourages the use of low-carbon materials such as clean steel, lower-emission cement, or bio-based products that capture carbon (such as timber).
This framework seeks to bring transparency to the building life cycle and steer the market towards more sustainable solutions.
The consultation will remain open until 31 October 2025.
