The European Commission has published a new EU-wide framework for calculating the life-cycle global warming potential of new buildings, setting out a common approach while allowing flexibility for national methods.
The framework is set out in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/52, published on 4 May 2026 by the Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy, the Commission said in a release on Monday.
Under the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, adopted in 2024, the life-cycle global warming potential must be calculated and disclosed in energy performance certificates — documents that show a building’s energy performance — from January 2028 for new buildings with a floor area of more than 1,000 m².
The requirement will be extended to all new buildings from January 2030.
Life-cycle global warming potential measures a building’s greenhouse gas emissions across its full life, including the production and transport of construction products, on-site construction activity, energy use during operation, replacement of materials, demolition, and waste transport and management, including reuse, recycling and disposal.
Use of product data and default values
The regulation allows the use of manufacturer-provided data drawn from other EU rules, including the Construction Products Regulation and Ecodesign and Energy Labelling legislation, the Commission said.
Default values can be used where such data is unavailable.
The regulation is due to enter into force on 24 May — 20 days after its publication.
