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Carbon regulations in buildings

EU CRCF, Timber Carbon and Colombia outlook

When we buy an appliance, we look at its monthly power consumption. In buildings, something similar happens: for decades, regulations only monitored the energy required to turn on lights or run the air conditioning. Today, environmental regulation demands looking at the full picture: how much carbon it cost to manufacture the materials, and how structural timber acts as a natural sponge that traps the polluting gas within its fibers.

Informational guide. Illustrative images under Pexels license. Does not constitute legal, certification, or carbon credit commercialization advice.

In few words. A building has three key carbon footprints: that of building it (manufacturing steel or concrete), that of using it (public utilities), and that of storing carbon (structural timber). New laws require measuring the full life cycle of the building in a simple way at the beginning and a technical one at the end, allowing this impact to be certified in the

From Everyday to Technical: How is Carbon Measured in a Construction?

To understand the new laws, we must first organize the three fundamental concepts that define the environmental impact of any building:

  • Embodied or Hidden Carbon: This is the building's invisible footprint. It is produced before it opens: it includes the extraction of raw materials, the industrial manufacture of bricks, cement, or steel, the transport of materials to the job site, and the mechanical processe
  • Operational Carbon: This is the footprint of use. It corresponds to the greenhouse gas emissions derived from the daily consumption of energy, heating, water, and maintenance throughout the building's usefu
  • Biogenic Storage: This is carbon sequestered naturally. Trees absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and transform it into cellulose. By processing that timber responsibly and using it in structures, that harmful gas remains trapped in the building for life, preventing it from returning to the atmosphere.

While traditional concrete and steel generate high emissions during their manufacture (embodied carbon), structural mass timber achieves a double benefit: it drastically reduces initial production emissions and physically locks away tons of carbon in its beams and columns for decades.

Environmental Accounting: The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

How does a real estate developer certify these benefits to the authorities? This is where methodological rigor comes in. Laws require performing a **Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)**, which is a complete environmental audit that measures a building's impacts from the origin of its materials ("the cradle") to its final demolition ("the grave").Análisis de Ciclo de Vida (ACV), que es una auditoría ambiental completa que mide los impactos de un edificio desde el origen de sus materiales ("la cuna") hasta su demolición final ("la tumba").

For LCA calculations to be valid, each material must have an **Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)**. Think of the EPD as the "nutrition label" of a material: a certified document that details with scientific precision how many grams of greenhouse gases were emitted to produce a timber beam, a concrete panel, or a steel profile.Declaración Ambiental de Producto (DAP o EPD, por sus siglas en inglés). Piense en la DAP como la "tabla nutricional" de un material: un documento certificado que detalla con precisión científica cuántos gramos de gases de efecto invernadero se emitieron para producir una viga de madera, un panel de concreto o un perfil de acero.

European Union: Formal Certification of Stored Carbon

The European Union leads legislative development with strict and transparent regulations. Under Regulation 2024/3012, the continent has created the **Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF)**, a law designed to officially validate activities that remove CO₂ from the atmosphere.

For sustainable buildings, the standard establishes very clear rules of the game drafted by the **Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA)**, which is the technical body in charge of environmental policy for the European Commission. In its technical guidelines of November 2025, DG CLIMA defined the essential conditions for certifying structural timber:

  • Permanence Guarantee: The building's structure must ensure that the carbon remains retained for a minimum of **thirty-five years**.
  • Forestry Traceability: All wood used must come from commercially grown forests with one hundred percent sustainable management certifications, ensuring that for every tree harvested, others are planted in its place.
  • Double Counting Prevention: The methodology rigidly distinguishes emission reductions (using wood instead of steel) from direct physical storage, preventing fictional benefits from being added to the final balance.

United States: Efficient Designs and Voluntary Markets

Unlike the unified European model, the North American market progresses through decentralized and dynamic initiatives:

  • Whole Life Cycle Analysis: The use of digital tools is promoted so that architects calculate carbon in the initial phases of three-dimensional design (BIM).
  • Sustainable Public Procurement Policies: Several states require builders of public works to report their materials' Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), limiting contracts to the lowest-footprint providers.
  • Voluntary Monetization: Tech-based companies connect mass timber projects with corporate investors who buy "biogenic carbon credits" to offset their own operational emissions.

Timber Carbon: How the Carbon Business Works in Practice

One of the pioneer platforms connecting these projects with the financial market is Timber Carbon. This entity allows real estate developers to generate additional income through a structured process:

  • Scale Requirements: Multi-story buildings with an approximate minimum consumption of three hundred cubic meters of mass timber in their structure.
  • Digital Traceability: Engineers must provide the digital 3D model of the project, the life cycle assessments (LCA), and the forestry certificates proving the legal and sustainable origin of the material.
  • Reference Prices: The international voluntary market values a ton of carbon captured in structural timber between two hundred and six hundred Swiss francs, depending on the durability and technical quality of the project (indicative values based on industry reports).

Colombia: Leadership and Opportunities in the Local Context

Avenida en Bogotá — densidad y sostenibilidad urbana
Illustration Diego Agudelo · Pexels — urban density, Bogota

In Colombia, the transition toward low-impact construction is gaining unprecedented momentum thanks to the collaboration of pioneer guilds and entities. The Ministry of Housing and national technical guidelines already promote life cycle calculation as an essential metric to plan the development of Colombian cities.

The adoption of these technical standards represents an extraordinary opportunity for organizations such as **Asocarbono, Camacol, and the Colombian Sustainable Construction Council (CCCS)** to jointly lead the creation of a unified registration and certification platform. A common technical reporting framework will bring massive advantages:Asocarbono, Camacol y el Consejo Colombiano de Construcción Sostenible (CCCS) lideren de forma conjunta la creación de una plataforma unificada de registro y certificación. Un marco común de reporte técnico brindará ventajas masivas:

  • Immediate Competitive Advantage: Developers who use locally grown wood will be able to certify and differentiate the real sustainability of their projects with rigorous methodologies compared to traditional construction.
  • Integrated Green Industry: A high-value productive ecosystem is consolidated, connecting commercial forestry in the countryside, digital platform design, wood prefabrication in automated factories, and audited environmental reports.
  • Robust Financial Structuring: It allows aligning sustainable projects with international green bond requirements, lowering financing costs through real estate trusts and attracting impact investment.
Transparency note (May 2026): In Colombia, the measurement of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is advancing rapidly as a requirement in technical specifications and sustainability manuals. However, the direct sale of biogenic carbon credits in structural timber is still in the stage of regulatory development. Therefore, each project must be evaluated independently with competent advisors before projecting direct financial returns from carbon offsets.

Go Deeper

Selected Bibliography

  • European Commission (2025). Technical Assessment Paper for long-term temporary biogenic carbon storage in buildings. DG CLIMA, ML-01-25-089-EN-N.
  • European Union (2024). Regulation (EU) 2024/3012 — Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF).
  • Carbon Market Watch (2024). Assessment of draft technical specifications for certification under the EU CRCF.
  • Andersen, C. E., et al. (2023). Whole Life Carbon Impact of 45 Timber Buildings. BUILD Report 2023:10.
  • Consejo Colombiano de Construcción Sostenible (2021/2025). Hoja de ruta de sostenibilidad para materiales de construcción — 2.ª edición.
  • FEDEMADERAS (2023). La construcción sustentable con madera es la solución para secuestrar el dióxido de carbono.
  • Timber Finance Management AG. Timber Carbon — developer programme. timbercarbon.ch

Reference Documents

  • Carbon removals certification framework (European Commission, 2025): Technical Assessment Paper for long-term temporary biogenic carbon storage in buildings — ML-01-25-089-EN-N
  • European regulation: Regulation (EU) 2024/3012; Carbon Market Watch summary (2024)
  • Colombian Sustainable Construction Council — net zero roadmap: cccs.org.co
  • Colombian Sustainable Construction Council — materials roadmap: cccs.org.co
  • Timber Carbon (developers): timbercarbon.ch
  • FEDEMADERAS — timber construction and carbon dioxide: fedemaderas.org.co

Madebloque informational edition — May 2026.

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