A building's carbon footprint – climate report and limit values 2026

The life-cycle carbon footprint of a building became a legal requirement in Finland on 1 January 2026: the climate report (ilmastoselvitys) under the Building Act and the carbon footprint limit values apply to construction permit applications filed from the start of 2026. The obligation does not touch the detached-house builder – small houses were exempted from both in the final stages of the legislation.

Until now, regulation looked mainly at operational energy use through the E-value; the climate report extends the scope to the whole life cycle, bringing material choices' emissions under regulation too. The E-value is not going anywhere – energy requirements and the climate report now run in parallel as separate documents.

Who does the climate report apply to?

The obligation covers:

• new terraced houses and blocks of flats
• office, retail, educational and care buildings, hospitals
• storage, transport, swimming and ice halls over 1,000 m².

Exempt are detached and other small houses, buildings under 30 m², and repair, alteration and extension projects. The hall threshold matters: a new hall over 1,000 m² falls within the obligation, smaller ones do not. A large machinery hall or riding arena can pass it easily, so check the floor area at the sketch stage.

What does the climate report contain?

The report covers the whole life cycle: material manufacture, transport, construction, use and maintenance, demolition and recycling. The calculation follows the Finnish Ministry of the Environment's assessment method, with emission data for common construction products from the Finnish Environment Institute's co2data.fi database. The result is expressed per floor area and year (kgCO2e/(m²·a)), making buildings comparable.

The timetable splits in two: at the permit stage you draw up a construction product list – the term replaced the earlier materials declaration – and the finished climate report is presented at the final inspection at the latest. Alongside emissions it records climate benefits, such as carbon stored in the structures and their potential for reuse.

What are the carbon footprint limit values?

Limit values in 2026, by building type:

• blocks of flats and terraced houses: 16.0 kgCO2e/(m²·a)
• offices and health centres: 20.0
• retail and cultural buildings: 22.0
• educational buildings and nurseries: 20.0
• hospitals: 29.0

The first limits are deliberately moderate, and most new production already meets them. Tightening is due around 2028–2029: blocks of flats drop to 12–13, offices to 17 and educational buildings to 16 kgCO2e/(m²·a). A solution that scrapes under today may fall short in a few years – worth factoring into long-running projects.

Why is a timber building well placed in the calculation?

Wood is a carbon store: one cubic metre of timber binds about 750 kilograms of carbon dioxide, since roughly half of wood's mass is carbon. Older texts round this to "a tonne per cubic metre", but the official figure is around 750 kg. Manufacturing emissions for timber are also lower than for concrete and steel, so a timber or log building typically clears the limit values with ease. Concrete and steel generate their emissions up front, whereas a timber structure stores carbon throughout its service life.

The carbon store and the reuse of structures are counted in the building's favour. A log frame is a good example – a log shell can be dismantled and re-erected, and the Ministry of the Environment has published a study on reusing log frames. More broadly, research suggests increasing the use of wood could cut the built environment's annual emissions by as much as 11 per cent.

What further regulation is coming?

The EU's Energy Performance of Buildings Directive will extend life-cycle emissions reporting to new buildings more widely; draft legislation points to 1 January 2028. These requirements are not yet in force, so track developments against your project's schedule.

What should the detached-house builder know?

The exemption also covers cabins and other holiday homes – but it applies to the obligation, not to actual emissions. Material choices decide a large share of life-cycle emissions at the drawing board, and many small-house builders calculate their footprint voluntarily, for a future sale or comparison. Frame material is the biggest single decision.

Checklist

• Check whether the obligation applies: building type and floor area decide.
• Order the calculation from a designer using the Ministry of the Environment's method and co2data.fi data.
• Draw up the construction product list at the permit stage and have the climate report ready for final inspection.
• Prepare for tighter limits if your project completes late this decade.
• A timber or log frame makes the limits easier to meet and brings reportable climate benefits.

• The climate report and carbon footprint limit values apply to construction permit applications filed from 1 January 2026.
• Detached houses, buildings under 30 m² and repair projects are exempt from the obligation.
• The obligation covers terraced houses, blocks of flats, offices and halls over 1,000 m², among others.
• Limit values: e.g. blocks of flats and terraced houses 16.0 kgCO2e/(m²·a) – limits tighten around 2028–2029.
• The construction product list is drawn up at the permit stage; the finished climate report is presented at the final inspection.
• A cubic metre of timber binds about 750 kg of carbon dioxide – a timber building typically clears the limits with ease.