Green buildings

With urbanisation, demographic changes, and climate change, our cities and their buildings are facing immense challenges. Creative and innovative thinking can lead us towards a more sustainable approach to designing, creating, and using the buildings that form the basis for our everyday lives, to the benefit of both our planet and the people that populate our urban centres. Ensuring green buildings that are sustainable and energy-efficient will be key to our efforts to tackle climate change.

Cities occupy 3% of Earth’s land but account for 70% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions

70 %

Buildings are responsible for 40% of global energy consumption and 33% of greenhouse gas emissions

40 %

In Europe alone, more than 220 million buildings – or 75% of the building stock – are energy-inefficient, with many relying on fossil fuels for heating and cooling

75 %

Related facts

Explore green buildings

Creation date: Latest first

Perspective

Energy efficiency in buildings

+1

The construction sector at the heart of the green transition

Blog post by David W Briggs, CEO of the VELUX Group. The blog post is part of a series of perspectives leading up to the IEA's 7th Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency held in Sønderborg, Denmark, on 7-9 June.

solutions

Circular building materials

+3

A Swan takes shape

A childcare centre in Gladsaxe is the first building that is constructed according to circular principles to be Nordic Swan Ecolabel certified. Reutilising materials from a demolished primary school, the construction of the circular childcare centre provides valuable learnings and inspiration for th

News

Buildings

+5

Reducing expenses and CO₂ emissions through energy efficiency in buildings

Sustainable architecture and circular construction based on sustainable building materials increase recycling and reduce waste. Preparing buildings to become more resilient to extreme weather events eliminates costly damages and ultimately save lives.

solutions

Energy efficiency

+1

Urban Regeneration through Deep Building Renovation

In several areas around Pamplona, Spain, a largescale renovation programme is slashing the energy costs and emissions of hundreds of existing buildings and breathing new life into old neighbourhoods. Seventy percent of the buildings in the Txantrea neighbourhood in Pamplona, Spain, were built during

solutions

Energy efficiency

+1

A warm – and safe – welcome for parents and babies alike at Bradford Royal Infirmary

The Women’s and Newborn Unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary in the UK is one of Bradford’s most well-known hospital buildings, where over 200,000 babies have been born since it was established over 50 years ago. However, the 1960s-era façade had never been upgraded. Heat loss, draughts, noise and leaks

News

Bio-based circular solutions

+9

Moving towards a circular economy

Globally, more natural resources are consumed than what is sustainable for our finite planet. According to the United Nations, the extraction and processing of natural resources are responsible for around half of all global CO2emissions and over 90 % of global biodiversity loss. It is evident that we have a shared challenge in decoupling growth in resource use from population and income growth.

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Meet Danish green buildings professionals

Company

Buildings

+3

Nordic Waste A/S

At Nordic Waste we are specialists in biological and chemical treatment of contaminated soil and residual products from the industry etc. The purpose is to recycle the soil and residual products back

Company

Air pollution

+13

Energy Machines

Energy Machines™ is a leader in the design, implementation, and operation of integrated energy systems for buildings. Buildings are a growing climate problem, accounting for over 28% of global CO₂ emi

Company

Air pollution

+4

EcoTree International

EcoTree is a certified B-Corp with a simple, ground-breaking way to reward individuals and businesses supporting sustainable forestry in Europe. In short, we own the land and you own the trees! We’ve

Company

Buildings

+10

cBrain A/S

cBrain is a Danish software company entrusted by 16 out of 20 Danish ministries and more than 75 governmental institutions with the digitization of their case-management including the Ministry of Clim

Company

Buildings

+33

Port of Aalborg

Port of Aalborg is more than a traditional port, transport hub and business park. We work with partnerships and collaboration. Sustainability and green transition. Symbioses and synergies. Knowledge a

Company

Buildings

+7

twin transition

We invest. Time & money in great ideas & great people with the potential to transform the way we do business towards a circular economy. We develop. Digital tools & services enablin

Company

Air pollution

+52

Port Esbjerg

Port Esbjerg is the North Sea’s leading port for offshore wind, base to the Danish offshore industry and an international hub for multimodal transport with six regular RoRo liner services. More tha

Company

Buildings

+4

STAC Technology ApS

STAC Technology's development of the world's first advanced water-vapor driven turbo-compressors for District Heating and Cooling (DHC) applications. Using pure water as refrigerant is based on a solu

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Explore related focus areas

Air pollution

With urbanisation set to increase, air pollution will affect even more people in the future if no action is taken. Through strict environmental legislation and air quality monitoring, Denmark has reduced atmospheric pollution in most areas to less than one-fifth of the levels during the late 70s.

Climate change adaptation

Expanding mitigation to include adaptation in dealing with climate change, enables a holistic view that can combat previous negative social, environmental, and economic impacts and result in both climate resilient and more liveable places to live. Over the next 15-20 years, Denmark will spend more than EUR 5 billion on adapting its cities to climate changes.

District energy

Put simply, district energy is about moving energy in water, with a valuable temperature, from a place of production to the place of consumption. Denmark’s district heating system is highly energy efficient and has been one of the key drivers for reduced energy consumption and CO2 emissions from the energy sector.

Green buildings

With urbanisation, demographic changes, and climate change, our cities and their buildings are facing immense challenges. Creative and innovative thinking can lead us towards a more sustainable approach to designing, creating, and using the buildings that form the basis for our everyday lives, to the benefit of both our planet and the people that populate our urban centres. Ensuring that new buildings are sustainable and energy-efficient will be key to our efforts to tackle climate change.

Smart cities

As the pace of urbanisation quickens, cities face immense challenges related to waste management, mobility, climate adaptation and energy. However, as their political, economic, and technological power grows, cities can harness this trend to act as leaders in the green transition and drivers of the green economy. Cities need smart solutions to ensure that they are optimised for sustainable economic activity, energy consumption, and an improved environmental impact.

Urban mobility

Cities must be built for people to be sustainable, healthy, and liveable. Targeted policy-making with urban mobility in mind is a strong reinforcement of these objectives. The key is to acknowledge the importance of city space and city life as an attractive, informal, and democratic meeting place for the city residents.

Urban waste management

Urban waste management entails the entire system of collecting, sorting, treating, utilising and ultimately disposing of waste. When properly facilitated it can provide a source of energy and resources, while significantly reducing pollution.

Urban water management

Cities around the world increasingly face pressure from both growing populations and climate change, challenging urban water supply in terms of available resources and in terms of treatment of increased wastewater volumes. An integrated approach to urban water management can ensure cost efficiency and synergies. E.g., wastewater treatment can provide the city with energy and nature-based solutions can delay or store rainwater for later use.