Normative Building LCA in the Nordics and Estonia

All Nordic countries have either effective or planned regulations requiring the building LCA for calculating the carbon footprint part. Similarly, the limit values are either effective or planned. Table 1 presents the situation in the Nordic countries.

Table 1. The status of normative building LCA and limit values in the Nordics and Estonia

Country	Mandatory building LCA	Source of the method	Limit values
Denmark	Since January 2023	BR18	Since January 2023
Estonia	Will be in force in 2025	Proposed method for climate declaration (2022)	Under discussion
Finland	Will be in force January 2025	Proposed method for climate declaration (2021)	Will be in force January 2025
Iceland	Coming soon	Method under development (2023)	Maybe in 2026
Norway	Since July 2023	TEK17	Maybe in +5 years
Sweden	Since January 2022	Act (2021: 787) on climate declaration for buildings. Ordinance (2021: 789) on climate declaration for buildings. Provision (BFS 2021:7) on climate declarations for buildings.	Proposed July 2025

Similarities and differences exist in the methodology and system boundaries in the normative LCA calculation rules. Table 2 presents the modules in a building’s life cycle

EN15978:2011 "Sustainability of construction works. Assessment of environmental performance of buildings. Calculation method"

and those included in each country.

Table 2. Modules in the normative building LCA in the Nordic countries and Estonia.
X = included in the regulation, O = planned but not in force yet.

Module	Denmark	Estonia	Finland	Iceland	Norway	Sweden
A1-A3 Product phase	X	O	O	O	X	X
A4 Transport	O	O	O	O	X	X
A5 Construction process	O	O	O	O	X^*	X
B1 Use	-	-	-	-	-	-
B2 Maintenance	-	-	-	-	X	O
B3 Repair	-	-	-	-	-	-
B4 Replacement	X	O	O	O	X	O
B5 Refurbishment	-	-	-	-	-	-
B6 Operational energy use	X	O	O	O	-	O
C1 Deconstruction, demolition	-	O	O	O	-	O
C2 Transport	-	O	O	O	-	O
C3 Waste processing	X	O	O	O	-	O
C4 Disposal	X	O	O	O	-	O
D Re-use, recovery, recycling potential	X	-	O	O	-	-

^*Limited to emissions related to production and transport to the construction site of materials that become waste during construction. Emissions related to the waste management of these materials are not included. Other emissions in A5, e.g., construction activities, are not included.

Besides mandatory building LCA, voluntary calculations are currently made in all countries. The main drivers are certifications, such as BREEAM and LEED, which require LCA calculations, and companies’ sustainability goals.