Opinion piece: Is Christiansborg holding back low-carbon construction?
Denmark has an ambitious goal of becoming CO₂-neutral by 2045. Yet, year after year, the Danish Climate Council’s annual status report shows that initiatives are lacking and that current policies are not ambitious enough. In many cases, we also see that politicians at Christiansborg are effectively maintaining regulations that slow down the green transition.
In construction, the building regulations play a key role in setting standards and guiding the industry toward a less resource-intensive future. However, despite being continuously updated, the regulations are—when viewed from the perspective of our neighbouring countries—so outdated that they effectively hinder the wider use of biogenic materials in construction. This applies both to the unambitious limit values for new buildings and the lack of pre-approved solutions for biogenic materials.
The technology and materials already exist. Unlike Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and pyrolysis, solutions such as traditional timber construction, CLT elements, and cellulose insulation are proven and readily available. They can directly replace CO₂-heavy materials and contribute to a significant reduction in the climate impact of construction—an impact estimated to account for around 30% of Denmark’s total CO₂ emissions. Given the scale of construction’s footprint, it is unsustainable—and frankly difficult for the industry to understand—that regulation stands in the way of the solutions with the greatest potential.
Recently, the Danish Technological Institute published a report on the challenges of promoting multi-storey timber construction in Denmark. The conclusions clearly show why concrete still dominates as the preferred material in new buildings. Fire safety, acoustics, and moisture management are often cited as barriers in timber construction. However, as the report documents, the issue is not actual shortcomings in these areas. The real problem is the lack of pre-approved solutions in the building regulations, as well as insufficient support for developing shared guidelines and systematically collecting experience—experience that already exists and that we are ready to share.
Today, most pre-approved solutions are based on traditional materials such as concrete and steel. This means that developers and consultants who want to build with timber face additional documentation requirements and therefore higher costs to meet fire safety standards. The goal is not to lower safety requirements—quite the opposite—but to challenge which materials are, by default, considered standard solutions in construction.
And we know from our neighbouring countries that it can be done. They have a strong tradition of timber construction, ranging from traditional wooden houses to modern high-rise buildings. Why should it be so difficult in Denmark when countries like Norway and Sweden succeed? These are countries we often compare ourselves to.
If policymakers genuinely want to reduce the climate impact of construction and create a level playing field for climate-friendly materials, it requires more than statements of intent. It requires updating building regulations with more pre-approved solutions for timber and other biogenic materials, supporting the development of shared guidelines, and actively removing the barriers that currently hold back progress. Otherwise, we must honestly conclude that policymakers are prioritising the status quo over the green transition.
By Holger C. Hansen
Group CEO, Nordic Wood Industries
Tel. +45 20 20 77 18
Email: hch@nowi.dk