Challenge
New Danish building regulations require full CO₂ documentation on all new homes. Eurodan needed to map the climate footprint of every material and construction choice across their entire product range.
Solution
Real-Time LCA used as the digital backbone - integrating climate data directly into 3D models and enabling real-time visibility of how each material choice affects the overall carbon budget.
Result
Over 2,000 materials and construction choices mapped, full regulatory compliance secured, and a new customer dialogue opened around climate-conscious design.
New Danish building regulations require all new single-family homes to document a total carbon footprint below 6.7 kg CO₂-equivalent per sqm/year. For Eurodan-huse, one of Denmark’s largest house builders, this meant a fundamental shift in how they work with materials, design and documentation.
With Real-Time LCA as the digital backbone, they mapped over 2,000 materials and construction choices, and embedded climate data directly into their project workflows.
New rules, new responsibilities
Since the summer of 2025, private house builders in Denmark have been subject to national climate requirements for new construction. Every new single-family home must now not only comply with energy framework requirements, but also document that its total lifecycle carbon footprint stays within the prescribed CO₂ limit.
For a company like Eurodan-huse, this was not simply a compliance exercise. With a wide product range covering everything from floor types and brickwork to roof structures, the implications touched every stage of the design and procurement process. Getting ahead of the requirements meant building a reliable, digitised picture of the climate footprint of every single element that could go into a finished home.
“To stay ahead of the new climate requirements, we carried out a full mapping of all the individual elements that can be part of a finished house. But rather than producing long lists or Excel spreadsheets, we digitalised everything related to our climate calculations,” says Morten Astrup Sandgrav, Product Manager at Eurodan-huse.
Real-Time LCA as the digital backbone
Real-Time LCA formed the core of Eurodan’s documentation effort. The team worked systematically through their entire product portfolio, using the platform to attach verified climate data to each material and construction type.
A key advantage was the direct integration between climate data and 3D building models. Rather than maintaining parallel spreadsheets, every change to a design - a different floor finish, a revised wall construction, a new roof specification - is immediately reflected in the climate account. Customers can see in real time what their choices and adjustments mean for the overall CO₂ footprint of their future home.
The technology, as Morten Astrup Sandgrav describes it, makes LCA work “a bit like how we already visualise cost and time - it becomes part of the model, not something separate.”
This integration also has implications for how Eurodan works with suppliers. As climate documentation becomes a procurement criterion, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and up-to-date material data carry increasing weight. In practice, new materials must now demonstrate their full climate footprint before they are added to the product range.
“The technological possibilities we now have to show customers how additions and removals can raise or lower the carbon footprint have real potential.” - Morten Astrup Sandgrav, Product Manager, Eurodan-huse
Compliance secured – and a new customer conversation opened
The mapping work means Eurodan-huse can now document regulatory compliance for all homes built under the new rules. But the ambition stretches further than meeting the minimum requirement:
“The next step for us is for our digital platform to also become a sales argument. We’re not there yet - and neither are private house buyers. But the possibilities are there,” says Morten Astrup Sandgrav.
The project points to a broader shift for architects, engineers and developers: as climate calculations are embedded in design models, the consequences of every decision become immediately visible. This changes the dialogue with clients, the criteria for material selection, and the bar for what ‘documented sustainability’ means in practice.
Key outcomes from the project:
- 2,000+ materials and construction choices mapped and digitised with verified climate data.
- Full compliance with Denmark’s new CO₂ documentation requirements for residential construction.
- Climate data integrated directly into 3D models - changes in design are reflected in the carbon account in real time.
- New supplier dynamic: EPDs and climate documentation now a formal part of material procurement.
- Foundation in place for climate data to become part of the customer sales dialogue.