Estimating the use of materials and their GHG emissions in the German building sector

The construction and building sector is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. In this study, we calculated the material used in shell construction in the German building sector from 2012 to 2020 using material flow analysis. Subsequently, the annual greenhouse gas emissions in the German building sector were simulated using the environmental product declarations from the Ökobaudat database and the modeled materials. We can show that biogenic materials account for an ever-larger share of value creation and are growing disproportionately. We can also show that by increasing biogenic materials, construction is becoming lighter and more efficient, and greenhouse gas emissions of shell construction are reduced during this period. In summary, the building sector in Germany still has very high greenhouse gas emissions of around 26 million metric tons of CO2 eq. Still, it is in a better overall position than at the beginning of the study period, thanks to the efficient use of available resources.