Leadership of EU member States in building carbon footprint regulations and their role in promoting circular building design

European countries are working towards carbon neutrality of the building sector. Regulations and initiatives, including the European Green Deal, aim at promoting circular buildings and low carbon design. Therefore, this paper seeks to investigate the role of legislation in paving the way towards achieving the circularity of buildings design and construction. A systematic literature review is conducted to compare the current regulations in different EU member states that address carbon emissions and life cycle thinking to achieve circularity. The study aims to demonstrate how the low-carbon emissions regulations in leading countries can lead to making the construction sector’s circularity. The research is focused on five leading EU member states in low carbon buildings, including Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The study compares the performance indicators, metrics, and target thresholds found in the five selected states’ regulations and examines them across a circularity assessment framework developed earlier by the authors. This paper provides insights on low emission building regulations state-of-the-art. Moreover, it offers a better understanding of the relationship between low-carbon emissions regulations and building circularity. The article explains the role of the legislative landscape and its impact on circular building design practices. Key findings from the study will assist the European Commission to identify policy options to support the uptake of “Circular economy principles for buildings design” in European, national and local policies.

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