Last week, the government presented changes in the environmental requirements for the construction industry. On a world basis, the construction industry accounts for 40 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions. In Norway around 15 percent. In April, the government launched its “restructuring goal” of cutting 55 percent of Norwegian emissions by 2030. It was therefore expected that the Ministry of Local Government and District Development (KDD) would come up with stricter requirements for the construction industry, as the industry itself has demanded. But the day did not come. Instead, the government adopted what has been characterized as “a marginal tightening” of the requirements for reuse of building materials – an upward adjustment from 60 to 70 percent. The target among serious players in the industry is currently 90 percent. Beyond that, the new regulations do not contain any new climate requirements for materials in new buildings. It provokes sharp reactions along the entire political spectrum. CONSTRUCTION SITE: On a world basis, the construction industry accounts for 40 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions. In Norway around 15 percent. Photo: Sebastian Nordli / news – Enormous drawer over the government – The government is moving with mouse steps. The changes in the building regulations are surprisingly defensive and do not follow up on the good ambitions in the Hurdal platform, says Liv Kari Skudal Hansteen, who is CEO of the Association of Consulting Engineers (RIF). Former SV minister, Heikki Eidsvoll Holmås, who rents the sustainability work in Multiconsult, says he is “enormously disappointed” with the government. “It is difficult to understand how the government will achieve its own restructuring goals if one does not even implement free climate cuts,” he writes in a post on Linkedin. He points out that Multiconsult has made calculations that show that the first 20 percent CO₂ reductions are free to implement. This is what the industry says Nina Solli, CEO of the Norwegian Construction Industry Association (BNL) – We are surprised that the government does not come up with a concrete timetable for future introduction of more comprehensive and stricter climate requirements in TEK. A lot of good work has already been started by the players in the construction industry to contribute to climate improvement. The efforts made by the industry nevertheless require manageable framework conditions. – For BNL, it is important that all companies, even the smallest business within the construction industry, should be able to participate and comply with the climate requirements. There must therefore be a common basis for the climate requirements for materials and their documentation basis so that one does not compare apples and pears when measuring the greenhouse gas accounts in the construction process. This means that companies can understand what is to be measured, how it is to be measured and how to document it. The industry works extensively with digital development to make information about product properties (such as CO2 emissions) digitally accessible and compatible with building information modeling (BIM). Digital solutions will streamline the documentation process and make it easier to choose climate-friendly construction solutions and building materials. We ask the government to work with the industry to develop good digital tools and solutions to meet climate requirements in the regulations. Liv Kari Skudal Hansteen, CEO of the Association of Consulting Engineers (RIF) – The government is moving with mouse steps in the climate cut area. The changes in the building regulations are surprisingly defensive and do not follow up on the good ambitions in the Hurdal platform. The climate requirements are nowhere near good enough to bring about real emissions cuts, as RIF and a close-knit construction industry have asked for. – Building and construction account for large emissions, where 25 percent come from machines and material users. 75 per cent are indirect emissions, for example in connection with the production and shipping of international input goods such as steel. Every quarter, 22,000 buildings are demolished in Norway because it is no longer profitable to keep them, and this creates large amounts of waste. Therefore, a green shift in building, construction and property is crucial in the climate fight, and the public sector must take the lead. Clear and ambitious government demands are an important driving force for a greener direction that the government should take advantage of – It is incomprehensible that the government does not demand emissions cuts in the construction industry, when the industry itself asks for it, says Lars Haltbrekken (SV) in the Energy and Environment Committee in the Storting. The Conservatives proposed in May that the government must “phase in requirements for reduced greenhouse gas emissions from the use of materials in commercial buildings and apartment blocks from 2024.” Alfred Bjørlo (V) says the changes in the new regulations are “disappointingly passive” and “startlingly small”. In a written question to the Minister, he calls for an answer to what is the reason why the government has presented a new regulation “without setting climate requirements for materials in new buildings as a close-knit construction industry has wanted”. DIFFICULT: – It is difficult to understand how the government will achieve its own restructuring goals if one does not even implement free climate cuts, says Heikki Holmås. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB scanpix – We need requirements in the legislation – We and many others in the industry, have demanded requirements for emission cuts and a manageable escalation plan. The most ambitious have voluntarily taken the lead, but we need requirements in the legislation to get everyone involved, says Katharina Th. Bramslev, as a daily camper in the Green Building Alliance. Director of the Norwegian Construction Industry Association (BNL), Jørgen Leegaard, tells news that they want stricter requirements, given two preconditions: When the requirements come, they apply to all work and to all companies. – It is therefore important that the government has a long-term plan for what is to come, so that the industry can prepare. A common system for measuring and documenting the properties and emissions from the material. – As long as we do not have a common system for measuring and documenting this, we will not be able to document emission reductions in a neutral way. This common platform must be in place as soon as possible. – Can not understand why the government is so behind – It is strange that the government shows so little interest in concrete measures to ensure the transition to a circular economy, says leader of the Nature Conservation Association, Truls Gulowsen. From 2030, all building and construction activities in Oslo will be emission-free, and from 2025, all assignments will be carried out emission-free. Sigrun Gjerløw Aasland is a daily camper in the environmental foundation Zero. – This is the country’s cheapest and least unpopular climate measure, and I can not understand why the government is so behind here. If we are not able to press the button for the lightest climate measures, how are we going to get up to speed? she asks. CIRCULAR: Sigbjørn Gjelsvik (Sp) says Norway «must go from being a use-and-throw society to having a circular economy based on the idea that as few resources as possible should go to waste. Photo: Kristoffer Steffensen Lenes / news – Can not just stick his finger in the air Minister of Local Government and District Sigbjørn Gjelsvik (Sp) said in May that Norway “must go from being a use-and-throw society to having a circular economy based on the idea that the least possible resources should go to waste ». State Secretary in the same ministry, Nancy Porsanger Anti, tells news that the new regulation is “a step in the right direction” and that it would be “unjustifiable” in numbering several demands before the case has been out for consultation. – We need a good foundation when we introduce new limit values; we can not just stick our finger up in the air. And that is precisely why we have introduced a climate account, so that we get a knowledge base to move forward with.
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Strong reactions to new and “relaxed” environmental requirements for the construction industry – news Vestland
