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EMBODIED CARBON IN GREEN RATING SYSTEMS

Miljöbyggnad (MB) Version 3.1- Sweden Green Building Council

Background

Miljöbyggnad (MB) consists of two major schemes: one for new construction, and one for existing buildings. Projects that meet the requirements can be awarded certificates at three levels: Gold, Silver, or Bronze. Since the standards of the MB system are based on the Swedish Building Regulations, which govern the entire country, it is applicable to all building projects in Sweden since 2011.

There are only 15 indicators measured for certification, all of which pertain directly to the building itself. The criteria can be clustered into three different categories: Energy, Materials, and Indoor Environmental Quality. During the procedure of Miljöbyggnad certifying, credits given by indoor environment performance is around 60% of the total credits which represents the main portion of building energy and environmental performance.

Embodied Carbon Credits

In “Miljöbyggnad 3.0”, it is currently proposed that EPDs are used to fulfill the silver or bronze level of the criteria related to life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases. The carbon is assessed with 15 indicators that include the climate impact of the structure and foundation.

  • Bronze: Demonstrating climate impact in the production of construction products in frame and foundation, covering life cycle phases A1, A2, and A3 with generic data to get Bronze certification (Bronze plus for including lifecycle phase 4).
  • Silver: At least 50% of climate impact for the production of construction products is based on product-specific EPDs to get Silver certification. Climate impact from transport is calculated with generic data for mode of transport and actual transport distances. (Silver plus for including at least 70% of the climate impact for the production of construction products based on product-specific EPDs).
  • Gold: Climate impact from A1 to A4 should be 10% lower than silver.
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