- Story Type
- Success Story
Reducing embodied carbon in construction materials: RE2020 in France
- Region:
- France
- Sectors:
- Buildings
- Industry
In France, up to 90% of a new building’s greenhouse gas emissions are generated during the construction and demolition phases. A new regulation, called RE2020, sets a cap on those emissions. With a phase-in period followed by tighter caps over time, the French government aims to trigger a progressive transformation of the whole construction value chain towards the production and use of low-carbon building materials.
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When looking at the whole life cycle of new and energy-efficient buildings in France, most of the emissions, 60%-90%, are generated during the construction and demolition phases. The share of emissions during operation is small, as new buildings consume little energy from mostly low-carbon sources. The RE2020 regulation introduces new building requirements that aim to reduce emissions related to construction materials over the building’s lifetime, including its demolition. RE2020 goes beyond reducing and decarbonising the energy use of a building - it also aims to foster low-carbon and sustainable construction materials. For the buildings sector in France, this regulation is an important step towards contributing its share to the national goal of decarbonising all sectors by 2050.
Third Party Documentation
A life-cycle perspective on the building sector– Good practice in Europe
BPIE (Buildings Performance Institute Europe) (2022)
Bâtiment
Agence de la Transition Ecologique (ADEME)
Formez-vous dès maintenant
CSTB Formations
Industrial prefabrication solutions for building renovation – Innovations and key drivers to accelerate serial renovation solutions in Europe
BPIE (Buildings Performance Institute Europe) (2022)
New Compendium on GHG Emissions Baselines & Monitoring: Building and Construction Sector
BPIE (Buildings Performance Institute Europe) (2022)
RE 2020
IFPEB
Réglementation environnementale RE2020
French ministry of the ecological transition and the cohesion of territories; Ministry of the energy transition (2022),
Roadmap to climate-proof buildings and construction – How to embed whole-life carbon in the EPBD
BPIE (Buildings Performance Institute Europe) (2022)
Towards embodied carbon benchmarks for buildings in Europe – Summary Report
Le Den, X; Steinmann, J; Röck, M; Birgisdottir, H; Horup, L H; Tozan, B; Sørensen, A (2022)
What is a Buy Clean Policy?
Carbon Leadership Forum (2020)
Whole-life carbon and industrial renovation – Realising the opportunities to reduce the lifecycle carbon footprint of buildings
BPIE (Buildings Performance Institute Europe) (2022)
