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EMBODIED CARBON IN GREEN RATING SYSTEMS

Swedish NollCO2 Version 1.0 (Sweden)

Background

NollCO2 is a certification system for buildings developed by the Sweden Green Building Council and its member companies. NollCO2 uses the following criteria:

  • NollCO2 sets requirements for projects to reduce climate impact by using carbon limit values for the product stages A1-A3, and for construction stages A4-A5.
  • NollCO2 sets a requirement for reduced climate impact associated with operational energy use by using an operational energy limit for the building energy use stage B6.
  • NollCO2 requires the project to balance the remaining climate impact with climate negative actions to attain net zero climate impact.

NollCO2 follows the method of decarbonization to reduce project carbon to a minimum value set by the system, and offsets the residual emissions in the following form:

  • Investment in renewable electricity production: The project may credit the share (%) of installed renewable electricity on or off-site that corresponds to the share (%) that the building developer or the building owner has financed
  • Climate compensation: The project may purchase climate credits which are in the form of carbon credits. One carbon credit permits the emission of a mass equal to one ton of carbon dioxide. Climate compensation credits can only be purchased from projects or project activities that will be started 5 years from the time of purchase.
  • Energy efficiency measures in existing buildings: The project may credit the share (%) of energy efficiency that corresponds to the share (%) that the NollCO2 building developer or owner has financed. Energy efficiency measures must improve the existing building’s energy performance to Energy Class B or better no later than five years after the NollCO2 project was verified. Energy class B corresponds to a building energy performance 25–50% lower than the code mandated energy performance of the building.

References
1) Sweden Green Building Council, https://www.sgbc.se/certifiering/nollco2/

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