In the quest to establish and enforce Passive House building codes that align with sustainability and energy efficiency goals, a comprehensive guide has been developed by The Passive Housing Network to shed light on the best practices in the implementation process. This report presents a roadmap for achieving the desired codes, emphasizing the critical need for market confidence, professional competence, and a robust supply chain to support their successful integration.

The findings of this research reveal a structured, four-step approach that, when executed in the proper sequence, can consistently bring Passive House building standards into practice:

• Alternate Pathways: Eliminate the hindrances created by the necessity of developing two distinct energy models. Advocate for the approval of Passive House models as an alternative compliance pathway.
• Passive House Incentives: Institute incentives aimed at bolstering industry capacity, expanding product supply chains, and reinforcing market confidence in Passive House construction.
• Add PH Reach & Stretch Codes: Introduce OPTIONAL reach or stretch codes for local jurisdictions, offering them the flexibility to adopt and implement these codes.
• Transform Baseline Codes: Once a substantial foundation of market confidence, professional competence, and a robust product supply chain is firmly established, revise the baseline codes to deliver desired Passive House outcomes.

It's worth noting that this process, from inception to completion, was successfully executed in Brussels within a span of just seven years. Additionally, Scotland is on the verge of accomplishing a similar feat. Massachusetts is following suit, with a strategic plan mirroring this trajectory. In cases where energy codes are locally governed, cities such as Denver find themselves in a favorable position to implement these steps ahead of state and national codes.

For more in-depth insights, practical examples, and a thorough breakdown of these four essential steps, we encourage you to delve into the full report. It offers a comprehensive guide for those committed to advancing Passive House building codes and fostering a more sustainable and energy-efficient future.

Please read the full briefing here.

Construction value chains, encompassing the construction and operation of buildings as well as the production of construction materials like cement and steel, contribute to approximately 40 percent of global CO2 emissions. This figure is expected to rise as developing economies, responsible for about two-thirds of these emissions, intensify construction activities for urbanization and development.

IFC is launching this report to guide international efforts to decarbonize construction value chains. Building Green: Sustainable Construction in Emerging Markets was prepared through close collaboration between IFC economists, investment officers, and building and construction sector specialists. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the challenges of reducing carbon emissions from construction value chains in developing countries, but also the considerable opportunities that will come from mobilizing the estimated $1.5 trillion of investment required for this transition.

Read the full report here.

In collaboration with UN Environment Programme, One Planet network - 10YFP, UNDP, and UN Climate Change, a Digital Toolbox for Building Circularity into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) has just been launched at the Middle East & North Africa Climate Week.

This “Building Circularity into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) - A Practical Toolbox” aims to support countries both in the global north and global south to identify, prioritize, implement and track circular economy interventions for increased ambition and implementation of their NDCs.

The toolbox aims to provide policymakers with a methodology, resources, and tools to help: 

1. Assess and identify GHG emissions hotspots from material use to prioritize sectors and/or sub-sectors in the NDC for circular economy interventions for increased climate ambition;
2. Assess and select circular economy interventions in prioritized sectors/sub-sectors for the NDC; 
3. Identify policy instruments and indicators for the implementation of selected circular economy interventions in the NDC; and
4. Track and report progress in the national Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) under the Paris Agreement.  

The toolbox is organized in four stages to leverage a country’s policy cycle. Each stage includes a set of steps and key questions to consider as well as tools and case studies. An overview of the stages and steps is below. 

Please read the full report here.

When it comes to sustainability and circularity, wood as a natural raw material has several advantages over other building materials. As a bio-based resource, it has considerable benefits concerning greenhouse gas emissions, carbon-storing, thermal insulation as well as human health and well-being compared to other construction materials. New types of wood products, being the result of extensive research, enable the extensive use of wood in tall buildings. At the same time, innovative wood products provide less manufacturing waste, low carbon-emission alternatives and store massive quantities of carbon while new technologies speed construction processes, promote energy efficiency and minimize waste.

This study examines the benefits of wood as a construction material and discusses practices applied in the wood construction sector from the perspective of circularity, sustainability and climate change mitigation. It analyses how circularity concepts can be applied in the construction industry using different construction methods and at different stages of value chains. The study describes how different construction techniques and practices contribute to the renewal and sustainability of construction value chains. The analysis is supported by examples of good practice in UNECE member States.

Please read the full report here.

This resource delves into the circular initiatives and tools adopted by cities such as Apeldoorn (the Netherlands), Bodø (Norway), Mikkeli (Finland), Seville (Spain), Høje-Taastrup, and Roskilde (Denmark) over their four-year participation in the CityLoops project, coordinated by ICLEI and funded by the EU. The handbook provides a comprehensive, step-by-step overview for other cities and regions on how to replicate these initiatives within their own unique contexts.

This handbook also places these activities in the broader context of the European circular transition, underscoring that circular construction is gaining traction across Europe. However, it emphasizes that the construction sector is just beginning its circular transition, despite being one of the most economically and environmentally resource-intensive sectors. It accounts for approximately half of all material extraction, half of energy consumption, a third of water consumption, and 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions.

By transforming the unsustainable linear approach of "take-make-dispose", the implementation of circular economies can mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of the construction sector while preserving and enhancing economic value. The handbook showcases practical examples of how cities put these tools into practice, the rationale behind their decisions, potential improvements, and how these efforts align with broader European circular strategies and policies.

Download the handbook

Embodied carbon contributes to 11% of global annual energy-related emissions. Given the scale of the building industry's environmental impact, it is essential that every stakeholder in this sector prioritizes driving action on embodied carbon.

RMI and U.S. Green Building Council recently published a report to accelerate decarbonization by providing answers to key questions about embodied carbon such as "What should we prioritize to reduce embodied carbon?" or "What does the policy landscape look like for embodied carbon?"

This report stresses that now is the time to take decisive action using the best knowledge we have and, in parallel, to accelerate the sector’s learning curve and achieve rapid market transformation. A major challenge that hinders faster progress is “analysis paralysis.” Stakeholders need access to easily understandable scientific takeaways that cut through the noise and provide guidance on how to take immediate action in the building industry. On the other hand, we also must resist the urge to find a “silver bullet” by relying on a single material or design strategy to cut embodied carbon. We must take a critical eye to the science and find solutions that work, no matter where our leverage lies: in policy, on projects, or in product manufacturing.

The report identifies eleven questions that continue to hold back action on embodied carbon, and answers these questions with concise text and illustrations, providing key takeaways and action items as well as providing in-depth resources to be explored.

please read the report here
 

The Digital Construction Material Passport (DCMP) is a groundbreaking tool designed to enhance transparency and sustainability in the construction industry. Much like food products require detailed ingredient information, construction materials also deserve comprehensive data to support informed decision-making.

A material passport serves as a declaration of a construction product's essential information, such as its composition, production chemistry, and potential for sustainable construction. This passport is supplied by the manufacturer and accompanies the product through the supply chain. Material passports contain data on chemical content, resource potential, and the product's operational and environmental impact. While some environmental indicators are found in Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), material passports cover other vital information for construction processes.

Material passports and building passports are related but distinct concepts. Material passports provide product-specific data, while building passports include project-specific information like renovations. Material passports are a prerequisite for building passports.

The DCMP is an open-source free communication format for safely communicating detailed information about construction products, i.e. an electronic material passport specifically for construction products. It can contain information about ingredients, chemistry used in production and the products ability to be part of circular/sustainable construction as well as future resource flows. The data format is based on XML and is free to implement by anyone. To encourage its usage there is also a free editor available to create, read, and update files in this format.

Please find more information here

The cement and concrete sector is fully committed to achieving significant sustainability progress. The GCCA gathers key data recording the industry’s sustainability commitments. The GNR (“Getting the Numbers Right” or “GCCA in NumbeRs”) is a key tool in how key sustainability progress is monitored and reported.

The GNR database is now managed by the GCCA(Global Cement and Concrete Association), having transferred at the end of 2019 from the Cement Sustainability Initiative (an initiative run through the World Business Council for Sustainable Development). Data are collected according to the CO₂ and Energy Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Cement Industry.

To access the CO₂ and Energy Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Cement Industry Excel Spreadsheet and Internet Manual, in English or Chinese use following links: Excel Spreadsheet and Internet Manual, in English or Chinese use the following links:

• English version
• Chinese version (简体中文版网络手册).  

The GNR database is open and transparent to interested parties. This year GNR is migrated to a new, user-friendly platform. To support interested parties to use and interpret the comprehensive data, GCCA now provides detailed data and regional data on demand via the GNR Project Management Committee. This will also enable the provision of more tailored solutions to enquiries. 

Data is available for: 1990, 2000, and 2005 to 2021. The regions and countries for which data are available are listed here in accordance with anti-trust law and confidentiality requirements. The list of parameters and indicators available is available here.

The Cement CO2 Protocol stands as a pivotal guidance document for calculating carbon emissions in cement manufacturing and enjoys widespread adoption worldwide. Cement manufacturers globally rely on this standard for consistent measurement and management of carbon emissions.

Additionally, the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) maintains an extensive database aligned with this protocol, making it one of the most comprehensive resources for CO2 emissions data in the cement industry. This combined effort underscores the protocol's significance and its substantial impact on carbon reduction initiatives across the sector.

Explore further at https://www.cement-co2-protocol.org/en/.

The GCCA Sustainability Charter and Sustainability Guidelines underpin the sustainability activity of its member companies, setting out what they need to abide by, what they measure and how they report their sustainability performance, especially for Cement and Concrete Manufacturers, providing global guidance on aligning their sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles. These guidelines offer industry-leading Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and parameters tailored to the sector, empowering Sustainability Managers, ESG Managers, and Plant Managers to effectively manage their sustainability performance.

This guideline outlines five key pillars that encompass the full spectrum of sustainability within the cement and concrete sector. It establishes specific requirements for full members to meet in each of these pillars.

The GCCA sustainability guidelines feature a set of straightforward, reliable, and representative KPIs that members must use to monitor and report their performance. To achieve the highest level of compliance, full members are expected to have their data independently verified and made publicly available.

The Global Cement and Concrete Association is an international industry association that was established in 2018. as of 2018, it represented about 35% of the global industry for Cement and Concrete.

Here more about the guidelines here