How EU regulation impacts wood construction

Towards carbon neutrality by 2050 

Initiatives and legislation from the EU are made to support greater policy goals, reminds Heino. “Among the most important goals right now is becoming carbon neutral by 2050.”  

To reach the carbon neutrality target by the mid-century, the Commission approaches emission reductions with a variety of initiatives, including the European Green Deal, Fit for 55 and New European Bauhaus.  

While the Green Deal focuses on the great green transition needed to reach the 2050 goal, Fit for 55 aims at revising EU legislation to reach the EU’s target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030​. A related initiative, the interdisciplinary New European Bauhaus, focuses on building enriching, sustainable and inclusive spaces for all Europeans. 

“New European Bauhaus is a strong signal of support from the Commission for the use of renewable and natural materials especially in the construction sector,” says Heino.  

Wood buildings as carbon storage 

Another interesting proposal is the EU’s Carbon Removal Certification Framework, a voluntary EU-wide mechanism to certify carbon removals generated in Europe.  

“Wood products from the construction sector can end their life as carbon sequestrating biochar, and the Commission also suggests that long-lasting products, such as wood-based construction materials are a form of carbon storage,” says Heino, who generally sees the Carbon Removal Certification as positive news for wood construction.  

“It is however important to keep an eye on what the exact requirements and calculation methods will be. It would be best to look at the carbon storage potential of the entire building stock instead of focusing on each product. Like we do with forests; the focus is not on each tree, but on the carbon that the total area of forests can sequester,” Heino says.  

“To make sure these things are done wisely, the wood construction industry needs a strong representation in the EU, just like the concrete and steel industries have.” 

Low environmental impact as CE marking criteria

The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) is among the EU regulations that directly impact wood-based building businesses in all member countries and beyond. 

CPR concerns all construction products, not just those made of wood. Now, it is being revised to make sustainable products the norm in the EU and boost circular business models.  

An important point of the revised CPR is to include the environmental properties of construction products in the CE marking criteria. The CE mark indicates that a product complies with essential EU requirements, allowing it to be freely marketed and sold in the European Economic Area (EEA).  

“The most crucial environmental property of construction products is the carbon footprint,” notes Aila Janatuinen. “Because the climate impact of wood products is smaller than other products’, this regulatory revision will encourage the use of wood-based products in construction.”  

Focus on the energy performance of buildings 

Another EU law worth noting, is the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), “the construction-related sister to the Energy Efficiency Directive,” as Janatuinen puts it. This legislative framework, which is currently also being revised, is meant to boost the energy performance of buildings.  

“Only about two per cent of the building stock consists of new buildings, so this directive is very much directed at increasing the energy efficiency of existing houses,” Janatuinen explains.  

With the revision, the focus is also shifting towards examining the energy consumption of buildings throughout their life cycle, including the energy used in the manufacturing of building products, known as embodied energy, she stresses. 

“This enhances the position of wood products because the energy consumption in the manufacturing of other materials is higher than that of wood products.”  

Stay ahead with a sustainable supplier

How can professionals in the wood-based construction business best prepare themselves for the rules and initiatives coming from the EU in the near future?  

Janatuinen and Heino are positive that the EU will continue to favour low-emission construction, which first and foremost means wood, and they both stress the importance of Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). These declarations are internationally comparable, third-party-approved documents that help building contractors and designers better understand the environmental impact of the products and materials used in their projects.  

Until now, EPDs have been voluntary, but UPM Plywood already provides EPDs for WISA plywood products.

“It would be a good idea for everyone in the business to learn to understand the terminology: There’s the carbon footprint, and then there's the carbon handprint, which is a positive impact. These are visible in the EPDs that can be found on responsible companies' websites," says Janatuinen. 

Petri Heino reminds us that the effort to lower the climate footprint of already highly sustainable wood products is ongoing and never-ending.  

“The direction from the EU is clear: we are going towards carbon neutrality. This means that all companies need to know the footprint of the products they manufacture, sell or use. So, the EPDs must be in order, but plans for lowering the emission must also be in place,” Heino points out.  

“You have to be proactive and better than the legislation requires.”