The European Commission has amended Annex III to
Directive (EU) 2024/1275 to establish a Union framework for national calculation of life-cycle global warming potential (GWP) for new buildings. The results are to be disclosed in the building’s energy performance certificate.
The regulation requires life-cycle GWP to be calculated over a reference study period of 50 years. It states that the calculation must follow the relevant parts of EN 15978:2011 and take into account any subsequent standard relating to sustainability of construction works and environmental performance assessment of buildings.
The framework covers life-cycle stages including raw material supply, transport, manufacturing, construction installation, use, maintenance, repair, replacement, operational energy use, deconstruction, waste processing, disposal, reuse, recycling and exported utilities. It also includes B1.2 fugitive emissions of refrigerants as part of the use stage.
The scope of building elements and technical equipment includes shell and core categories. For refrigeration and HVACR-related systems, the annex lists cold rooms, heat pumps, chillers, cooling towers, fan coil units, air conditioners, cold water stores, buffer vessels, pumps, pipework, insulation, controls and ventilation systems.
The life-cycle GWP must be expressed in kg CO2eq/m2 of useful floor area. For reporting in the energy performance certificate, results must be shown at least by product stage, construction process stage, use, maintenance and replacement stage, operational energy use stage, end-of-life stage, reuse, recycling and recovery potential, exported utilities, and GWP-total.
