Embodied energy of detached houses built to the nearly‐zero energy standard

Until now, the standards framework for the energy‐related balancing of buildings has concentrated on the operating/use phase of the building by using energy consumption or demand values as the essential parameters. Energy used for the production of the building materials, the building of the building and finally any disposal required are not included. The German government therefore formulated the target in their climate protection plan 2050 [1], published at the end of 2016, to further the use of sustainable building and insulation materials. Climate protection aspects before and after the period of use, i.e. emissions caused by the production, processing and disposal or recycling of the building materials, were to be taken into account on the basis of freely available eco‐balance data. In addition, instruments for the greater integration of the lifecycle (”Cradle to Grave“ or ”Cradle to Cradle“) of building materials were to be investigated and included more in building design practice.