Reduction Roadmap Sweden: Why science-based carbon limits matter in construction

The construction of buildings is responsible for nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, national regulations rarely reflect the emissions limits required to meet the 1.5 °C target of the Paris Agreement. In Sweden, building-related emissions account for roughly 33% of national totals when including imported materials, a figure that aligns with global averages.

The Reduction Roadmap Sweden initiative aims to address this misalignment by translating climate science into enforceable, sector-specific targets for construction. Developed by Wingårdhs Architects, Chalmers University, and Krook & Tjäder Architects, the roadmap draws directly from The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change carbon budgets and the Stockholm Resilience Centre's planetary boundaries framework.

The roadmap's target: A 96% carbon reduction 

Reduction Roadmap Sweden builds on the Danish Reduction Roadmap initiative, developed by the original creators of the methodology. The Danish campaign successfully reshaped the country’s national embodied carbon limits and now serves as a model for Sweden. The Swedish roadmap sets out a 96% emissions reduction target for new construction, derived by allocating the IPCC’s 1.5 °C global carbon budget evenly per capita and applying it to the construction sector.

For multi-residential buildings, this implies reducing emissions from 356 kg CO₂e/m² (current practice) to 13 kg CO₂e/m² by 2030. The roadmap uses life cycle assessment (LCA) boundaries A1–A5 and aligns with Sweden’s updated Climate Declaration rules.

Policy vs. science: Sweden’s current regulatory trajectory

Sweden’s building authority, Boverket, currently proposes a gradual reduction path starting from median industry performance. This approach is politically pragmatic but scientifically insufficient. Without revision, the proposed trajectory would allow three times more carbon than the 1.5 °C pathway permits.

By contrast, the roadmap suggests that buildings constructed today should already perform 30% better than current norms, a threshold already technically feasible using existing lower-carbon construction materials and methods.

“We know that we can build with 30% lower emissions already today without any extra cost. So why not start there, and then follow with a much steeper reduction curve? That way, we truly make a contribution to the climate"

 — Love Berger-Vieweg, Sustainability Specialist, Wingårdhs

What construction professionals can do now

Professionals across the value chain, from architects and structural engineers to ESG consultants and manufacturers, can apply the roadmap’s principles by:

• Setting absolute carbon targets in project briefs and procurement
• Modeling whole-life carbon performance early in design
• Prioritizing reuse, renovation, and transformation to reduce total emissions
• Advocating for national and local policies aligned with carbon budgets

Swedish municipalities turning into the frontrunners of change 

Cities like Gothenburg and Malmö already enforce embodied carbon thresholds below national averages. Gothenburg, for example, applies a declining carbon cap to municipal developments, in line with the 1.5 °C trajectory. These local examples demonstrate that more ambitious targets are not only possible but already underway.

Supporting science-based limits with One Click LCA

To deliver on the Reduction Roadmap’s targets, professionals need tools for early-stage modeling, performance tracking, and material optimization. One Click LCA supports these workflows with:

• Concept-stage carbon modeling: Carbon Designer 3D allows early assessments using minimal inputs — supporting design decisions aligned with benchmarks like 13 kg CO₂e/m².
  
  
• LCA and EPD integration: One Click LCA’s EPD tools enables EN 15978-compliant assessments and access to 300,000+ EPDs (environmental product declarations) to inform low-carbon material selection and procurement.
  
  
• Reuse and renovation quantification: Building Circularity Tool helps model the carbon savings from retaining structures and reusing materials — essential for reducing total lifecycle emissions.

From policy to project execution

Sweden’s Reduction Roadmap is more than a critique of weak regulation. It is a working example of how to align built environment policy with planetary boundaries. One Click LCA enables the operationalization of this alignment — turning national targets into measurable design and procurement decisions.

For a climate-aligned construction industry, science-based targets are not aspirational. They are the baseline.