Climate report – Updated situation 2026

Update 29.9.2026: The Building Act (rakentamislaki 751/2023) entered into force on 1.1.2025. With the corrections made to the act before it entered into force, a climate report is not required for small houses (pientalot) or for renovation and extension projects. The climate report and a list of building products are required for new buildings whose building permit application has been filed on or after 1.1.2026. The climate report is prepared for the building’s final inspection, not for the permit application. The text below was written in 2024, when the changes were still being considered by Parliament.

A building’s climate report (ilmastoselvitys) is a calculation and documentation of the building’s climate impacts over its life cycle, required under the Building Act (751/2023). The draft (20.9.2022) Ministry of the Environment decree on the climate report for buildings stipulates that the climate report must include the building’s carbon footprint (hiilijalanjälki) and carbon handprint (hiilikädenjälki) in connection with the design of new buildings and in large-scale renovation projects. However, Petteri Orpo’s government is proposing (2024) to Parliament that the requirement to submit a climate report and a building material declaration (materiaaliseloste) be removed for small houses and renovation projects. For new buildings, a climate report would be required when applying for a building permit for, among others, terraced houses, blocks of flats, office buildings, commercial buildings, shopping centres, cinemas, schools and hospitals. Reducing energy use will be key in curbing carbon dioxide emissions, but a building’s life cycle assessment also comprehensively covers the other life cycle stages in which emissions arise.

Climate report

Carbon footprint

A1-3 Manufacture of building products

A4 Transport

A5 Construction site activities

B4 Replacement of building products

B6 Energy use

C1 Demolition

C2 Transport of demolition waste

C3 Processing of demolition waste

C4 Final disposal of demolition waste

Carbon handprint

D1 Reuse and recycling

D2 Energy recovery

D3 Surplus renewable energy

D4 Carbon storage in products

D5 Carbonation

D6 Planted trees

Factors to be taken into account in the climate report. According to current information, the emission impacts of the different stages are calculated for both the building and the building site. It is possible, though, that the building site will be left out of the assessment in the final version.

Buildings that require a climate report

Climate reports will be required for new buildings, and the original intention was to require them for large-scale renovation projects as well. As stated earlier, the Orpo government is now (2024) proposing to Parliament that renovation projects and small residential buildings be excluded from the requirement. It has not yet been confirmed for which types of new buildings a climate report will be required, but presumably for the following:

Blocks of flats (intended-use category 2)
Office buildings (intended-use category 3)
- Office building, Health centre.
Commercial buildings (intended-use category 4)
- Commercial building, Department store, Shopping centre, Retail building (excluding grocery stores under 2000 m2), Retail hall, Theatre, opera, concert and congress building, Cinema, Library, Archive, Museum, Art gallery, Exhibition hall.
Accommodation buildings (intended-use category 5)
- Hotel, Hostel, Service housing, Home for the elderly, Care institution.
Educational buildings and day care centres (intended-use category 6)
Sports halls, excluding swimming halls and ice rinks (intended-use category 7)
Hospitals (intended-use category 8)
Other buildings (intended-use category 9)
- Storage building, Transport building, Swimming hall, Ice rink, Grocery store under 2000 m2, Relocatable building

Carbon calculation

A building’s climate report assesses greenhouse gas impacts broadly. The low-carbon assessment includes a carbon footprint calculation, which calculates the greenhouse gas emissions that arise over the building’s life cycle. In addition, the carbon handprint is calculated, which expresses the positive effects of the construction project that slow down climate change. Note that the carbon footprint and the carbon handprint are reported separately and are not added together.

The unit used for the amount of greenhouse gas emissions is kgCO2e/m2/a. The unit indicates how many kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent in climate impact to carbon dioxide emissions, arise per year per square metre of the building’s floor area.

Carbon footprint

The carbon footprint is calculated over the building’s entire life cycle, which is defined as 50 years. Limit values are set for the building’s carbon footprint, which must not be exceeded, or the building permit will not be granted. Different limit values will be defined for different building types. The carbon footprint consists of the following parts:

A1-3 Manufacture of building products.
A4 Transport.
A5 Construction site activities.
B4 Replacement of building products.
B6 Energy use.
C1 Demolition.
C2 Transport of demolition waste.
C3 Processing of demolition waste.
C4 Final disposal of demolition waste.

For example, the emission data for the manufacture of building products can be the table values from the national emissions database, or more precise manufacturer-specific data calculated using a uniform and generally accepted method. Certain variables in the calculations are always calculated with default values, certain ones always according to the design plans, and for some it is possible to choose which approach is used.

A building’s energy use makes up a significant share of its life cycle emissions. The building’s energy consumption will probably be calculated on the same principles as the E-value has previously been calculated for the energy performance certificate (energiatodistus). The difference now, however, is that once the building’s calculated purchased energy has been determined, the energy consumption for each energy carrier is multiplied by the emission factors found in the emissions database for construction.

Carbon handprint

The carbon handprint assessment includes only those avoided and removed greenhouse gas emissions that would not arise without the construction project. The carbon handprint is a separate calculation and is not deducted from the carbon footprint. The carbon handprint consists of the following parts:

D1 Reuse and recycling
D2 Energy recovery
D3 Surplus renewable energy
D4 Carbon storage in products
D5 Carbonation
D6 Planted trees

Things in a construction project that have a positive effect on the climate include, for example, trees to be planted, which bind carbon dioxide from the air. The carbonation of cement-based materials, on the other hand, is the slow binding of carbon dioxide back into the limestone from which it was released during cement manufacture.