Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 541 (2026). Open access, CC BY 4.0
Journal of Cleaner Production
Can a single building stay within its share of Switzerland's carbon budget, and how much carbon can it lock away in the process? After modelling the national building stock, the research team from ETH Zurich and HES-SO now looks at individual new and renovated buildings. The answer depends strongly on which components are built with biobased materials.
Authors / institution
Yasmine Dominique Priore, Sarah Delmenico, Lionel Rinquet, Guillaume Habert, Thomas Jusselme · ETH Zurich · HES-SO (HEIA-FR, HEPIA)
Published
2026
The study analyses four residential case studies: two new multi-family buildings of low and medium density, and the renovation of a single-family and a multi-family house. Each case is calculated in three scenarios with an increasing share of biobased materials, from standard to realistic to advanced. A life cycle assessment based on Swiss KBOB data and a 60-year building lifespan provides the figures. The results are compared with carbon budgets up to 2050 and with a reference value for negative emissions technologies (NET) derived from the Swiss climate strategy.
What the case studies show
- Lower emissions. In the advanced scenarios, fossil embodied emissions fall by 18–40 %. All cases meet the 2025 carbon budget, and three of four meet the 2030 budget.
- Up to 500 kg CO₂ per square metre. Biogenic carbon stored in the advanced scenarios ranges from around 500 kg CO₂eq/m² in the new medium-density building to around 60 kg CO₂eq/m² in the renovated multi-family house.
- New buildings store far more. At building scale, new construction can store 2 to 8 times more carbon than renovation, mainly because renovations do not replace the load-bearing structure.
- More than the national NET target. Three of four cases store 1.5 to 4 times more biogenic carbon than the reference value for negative emissions at national level.
- Structure and insulation matter most. Façade insulation and internal slabs are the most effective components. Finishes with a short service life are the least effective.
The authors also point to trade-offs. A straw façade on a CLT structure greatly increased carbon storage but also raised embodied emissions because of the engineered wood elements. Material choices therefore need to be checked component by component.
For the national perspective, see the team's earlier study on the Swiss building stock. Potential for biogenic carbon storage towards a net-zero built environment in Switzerland
Full reference: Priore, Y. D., Delmenico, S., Rinquet, L., Habert, G., & Jusselme, T. (2026). Potential contribution of biogenic materials in new and renovated buildings towards carbon budgets and storage in Switzerland. Journal of Cleaner Production, 541, 147558. Open access under CC BY 4.0.
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