We can reach our destination faster if we have a map to show us the way.
That’s why #BuildingLife began its journey in 2021, with the clear mission to address the decarbonisation of buildings and construction. These roadmaps are at the heart of #BuildingLife. They show the context, solutions and action needed to put a sustainable built environment at the heart of Europe’s future. In three years, the project has grown with the backing of 12 countries, around 200 ambassadors and a clear set of policy plans (roadmaps) at national and regional level, which lay out the course of action which must be taken to support the European Union Green Deal mission to accelerate total decarbonisation of the built environment.
Alongside the 12 national roadmaps developed by the Green Building Councils (GBCs) in their territories, WorldGBC produced the EU Policy Whole Life Carbon Roadmap in 2022.
View the roadmaps:
On 24 May 2022, WorldGBC launched a bold new policy plan called the EU Policy Whole Life Carbon Roadmap to help the European Union accelerate total decarbonisation of buildings and construction by 2050.
The roadmap was developed by our #BuildingLife project with the support of a coalition of 35+ leading industry bodies.
How can we pave the way for a continent to act on solutions which already exist to address whole life carbon (WLC) emissions throughout the entire building and construction sector?
In section one, we lay out the key European Union (EU) policy interventions, regulatory measures and tools needed to address WLC at building level, meet the ambitions of the EU Green Deal and set Europe on track to achieving a decarbonised, circular, resilient, and well designed built environment by 2050.
The policy changes listed so far require a major shift. There’s no one policy change which solves all. Cross collaboration and change on both a national and international scale, are needed.
In section two, we outline a range of action routes which can support this shift.
How do we put these solutions into practice?
In section three, we examine the action which sectors and governments must take in order to make this vision a reality.
With different starting points in each national market at the beginning of phase one of #BuildingLife, the Green Building Council (GBC) roadmaps are each tailored to the needs of the market they address. This means that the methods adopted, plus the scope and ambition of the recommended actions, vary accordingly. The common thread throughout however, is the need to rapidly accelerate action on reducing whole life carbon of buildings through a combination of industry leadership and ambitious policy. Another common feature across the roadmaps is the collaborative engagement of representatives, from all parts of the value chain, in their creation.
