Section 7-9 of the Norwegian procurement regulations has long required public clients to weight climate at 30 percent in their award criteria. In practice most have found a way around it: they set climate requirements as contract conditions instead. A new method developed by Statsbygg, Forsvarsbygg and Sykehusbygg, together with the City of Oslo's climate agency, is intended to close that gap.
The method is being prepared for publication in the DFO criteria guide. Once it is in place it will in practice become the standard approach for public clients procuring new buildings through design-and-build contracts.
Why the answer has been to put climate in the contract
The reason most public clients ended up setting climate requirements in the contract rather than using them as an award criterion is simply that there has not been a good enough method. To compare emissions across tenders you need a shared framework for what is measured, how it is measured, and what counts as evidence.
How the method works
The method itself is straightforward. The client picks one of two ambition levels, prepares the tender documents, and evaluates bids on the basis of a submitted carbon budget.
The basic level covers life-cycle phases A1 to A5 and B2 and B4, for the building's load-bearing structure and envelope. The advanced level builds on that and adds the end-of-life phases C1 to C4 where there is a particular need, with the option to include operational energy (B6), mechanical services, electrical installations and external works.
The important part is what happens to the carbon budget. At tender stage contractors have to submit a credible carbon budget, which is assessed as an award criterion carrying 30 percent of the overall evaluation. That budget then becomes a contractual commitment. After delivery a final carbon account is submitted in line with NS 3720, and deviation from the original budget can trigger a bonus or a penalty. The gap between what contractors plan and what they actually deliver is about to get far more attention than it does today.
What this means for contractors and consultants
It is not complicated, but the consequences run both ways depending on how well prepared you are. A contractor who can produce a well-documented, NS 3720-compliant carbon budget quickly at tender stage is in a stronger position than one who cannot. A contractor who bids artificially low on emissions to win the work, and then cannot deliver, now faces a direct financial penalty.
Climate work can no longer be deferred to later phases. It has to be part of how contractors price, plan and document from the first bid.
How Reduzer supports the coming model
Reduzer is built for exactly this.
- Compliance with NS 3720:2018 and G2:2024. Reduzer integrates the new G2 guidance in full. It standardises key assumptions such as reference service lives, transport distances and material losses. These values have previously varied considerably between bidders, which made calculations hard to compare across tenders. With standardised values built into the platform there is less room for interpretation, and a more even starting point for everyone competing.
- Early-phase modelling for tight deadlines. Tender deadlines are short. Reduzer makes it possible to produce reliable, NS 3720-compliant carbon budgets quickly, so teams spend less time in spreadsheets and more on the design choices that actually score.
- Managing bonus and penalty risk. Now that a gap between bid and delivery can carry a financial consequence, a contractor cannot afford to lose sight of the carbon budget once the contract is signed. Reduzer makes it easy to carry the budget from tender through the whole construction period. As generic data is replaced with project-specific EPDs, contractors can track their own exposure continuously rather than discovering a problem at handover.
The direction is clear. Public clients are getting the tools to make climate a real competitive factor. Contractors who start building that capability now will be in a stronger position than those still treating it as paperwork.
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