How to deliver a TEK17 greenhouse gas account in under 20 minutes

From 1 July 2022, TEK17 has required a greenhouse gas account. Any apartment block or commercial building whose framework application was submitted after the requirement took effect has to show an account of the building's CO2 emissions from materials and from the construction process.

For many contractors and developers that has been a headache. How do you meet NS 3720:2018 without spending the whole fee budget on manual calculation? Here is how to do it efficiently.

The short version

1. The requirement covers apartment blocks and commercial buildings with a framework application submitted after 1 July 2022.
2. The account has to follow NS 3720:2018.
3. With the right tool the report can be generated in under 20 minutes.

What TEK17 actually requires

Construction plays a central role in meeting Norway's climate targets, which is why the Norwegian Building Authority (DiBK) introduced a mandatory greenhouse gas account in TEK17. After the transition period it now applies in full to all relevant projects.

Worth noting: the account is usually not submitted to the municipality as part of the framework application itself. It has to exist in the project at completion. For the completion certificate to be issued, the account must be available alongside all other design and construction documentation.

What has to be included

The account is based on NS 3720:2018, though the regulation allows a simplification. You do not need a full life cycle assessment for every phase, but these modules are the minimum:

• A1 to A3: emissions from raw material extraction and material production.
• A4: transport of materials to site.
• B2: maintenance of building elements.
• B4: replacement of building elements over the service life.

There is also a specific requirement that waste from site, offcuts and losses, is included in the account.

Which building elements are covered

You do not have to count every screw. TEK17 refers to the building element table in NS 3451 and requires these main groups as a minimum:

• 21: ground and foundations
• 22: structural systems
• 23: external walls
• 24: internal walls
• 25: floors
• 26: roofs

DiBK publishes its own guidance, which you can read here.

How Reduzer makes it efficient

Reduzer handles the regulatory requirements automatically, so you can concentrate on getting the quantities and products right rather than wrestling with the arithmetic.

Here is how a complete, approved TEK17 report comes together.

Step 1: set up a reference building with Automodel

You do not start from a blank page. In Reduzer you can use the DFO reference for your building type as a starting point, then set the building's scope and adjust the material and design choices specific to your project.

Automodel gives you a rough estimate of the CO2 emissions within a few minutes. That is a solid basis for building the final account, and it shows you where the problems are early in the process.

Step 2: swap generic values for actual EPDs

This is where you save the most time and gain the most precision. Reduzer has a verified library of environmental product declarations, national databases and generic values.

Automodel suggests the most relevant emission factors for your materials based on generic data. To increase accuracy towards completion, you swap those for specific product data. Reduzer then calculates the actual emissions based on that product's manufacture and transport, without you hunting down PDFs by hand.

Step 3: generate a ready-made TEK17 report

Once quantities and products are chosen, Reduzer does the rest. It runs a full life cycle analysis in the background and constrains the result to what TEK17 asks for:

• Life-cycle modules A1 to A4, B2 and B4
• All mandatory building element groups, 21 to 26
• Transport emissions based on the project's actual location
• Replacement intervals based on standardised service lives
• Offcuts and losses on site

One click selects the ready-made TEK17 report template. You get a PDF containing the tables, charts and references the formal requirements in section 17-1 call for, ready to file with the project documentation.

Ready to make this easier?

The greenhouse gas account requirement is here to stay, and experience from Finland and Denmark suggests it will tighten over the years.

That does not mean the work has to grow with it. A specialised tool does more than keep you compliant. It frees up time to actually optimise the building for lower emissions rather than just reporting numbers.

Want to see how this works on your own project? Talk to one of our experts here.