The operational energy efficiency of new buildings in the EU should be at the level of ultra-low or near-zero energy buildings. It is therefore relatively difficult to achieve further energy savings. However, the pre-operational phase—raw material sourcing, manufacturing, transportation, and construction—offers significant energy savings and greenhouse gas reduction opportunities, referred to as embodied energy and equivalent CO₂ emissions. Unlike operational energy, no standard or legislative criteria have yet been established for embodied energy. Setting maximum embodied energy values converted to the unit of heated building area, accounting for building shape factor, and differentiating between high-mass and lightweight constructions are proposed. This study illustrates assessing environmental indicators based on building shape, highlighting the necessity of relative assessments over absolute values to favour energy efficiency. It also emphasizes that precise criteria should derive from authentic data collected during the energy certification and building permitting processes. Integrating assessments of embodied energy and operational energy demand facilitates a comprehensive evaluation of buildings’ environmental performance.

This study investigates the influence of geometric parameters—size, proportions, number of floors, and roof shape—on the environmental efficiency of family houses using a simplified life cycle assessment (LCA) method. The analysis focuses on the product stage (A1–A3), commonly referred to as “cradle to gate,” which encompasses embodied emissions and energy. It demonstrates that even within the limited scope of the product stage (A1–A3), geometric parameters such as floor area, proportions, and compactness exert a decisive influence on embodied environmental impacts. In addition to absolute and per-square-meter indicators, the analysis highlights the importance of the shape factor, defined as the ratio of envelope area to heated volume, as a fairer basis for comparing buildings of different geometries. Similar to its established role in operational energy certification, the shape factor provides a meaningful link between geometry and embodied impacts. The findings suggest that future implementation of the Energy Performance of Building Directive IV (EPBD IV, EU 2024/1275), which mandates the calculation of the global warming potential (GWP) of new buildings from 2028 onwards, could benefit from evaluating both primary energy non-renewable (PENRT) and global warming potential (GWP) in relation to the shape factor, once sufficient data become available. The presented study thus contributes to the ongoing European debate on whole-life-cycle carbon assessment while clarifying its novelty as a geometry-based, product-stage method that can be scaled and adapted to different contexts. The proposed simplified, geometry-oriented approach to estimating embodied impacts (A1–A3) with shape factor-based normalisation enables a fair comparison of buildings with different geometries at the concept stage.

Effects of microorganisms on building facades are responsible for aesthetic, bio-geophysical and biogeochemical deterioration. The process of cleaning of contaminated facades involves the removal and eradication of micro flora on the surface of insulation using chemical products, killing cells and eliminating all living mass, including organic ingredients. The removal of bio corrosion coating from ETICS structure by means of chemical and preservative substances (biocides) is currently the only effective and most used technology. Uncontrolled leaching of the used biocides is unacceptable. Meantime, new technology for environmentally safe maintenance of ETICS is needed. Scientists have been working on replacement the biocides currently used in facades treatment with eco-friendly biocides that have no negative effects on the environment or human beings. While the eco- treatment will be available, safe dewatering of chemicals being leached from the surface of the facade could be provided by e.g. special drain systems adjusted to the building type, use and age. The paper gives an overview of the problem in context of Slovakia and examples of leaching systems designed for new and renovated buildings.

Treatment of existing External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) is based mainly on chemical methods while environmental impacts are not clear. Currently used finishes of ETICS contain biocides as a prevention measure against biocorrosion. Uncontrolled leaching of biocides is not longer acceptable. Research on new technologies without uncontrolled release of biocides is developing, however, new system solutions are not known yet. Principles of sustainability must be regarded when applying the concept of ETICS maintenance.

The article presents environmental analysis of a detached house in terms of its life cycle. The analysis is simplified in order to compare the built and operational energy of the building whereas the operational energy is described using computer aided building performance simulation. The input data related to the built (embodied) energy are based on information from classical works on life cycle analysis. The article also justifies the simplification of environmental analysis, which aims to build pragmatically on existing standardization and legislation on energy performance of buildings. The final section provides some considerations concerning the environmental assessment of buildings.

The increasingly urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 have intensified the necessity for EU member states to implement comprehensive evaluations of environmental impacts, including in the building construction sector. Today, we are approaching the limits of what can be achieved through further reductions in operational energy consumption of buildings. However, there is still significant potential for reducing building’s primary embodied energy demand, which simultaneously offers opportunities for lowering greenhouse gas emissions expressed in terms of global warming potential (GWP). In this article, in addition to evaluating the current state of establishing GWP threshold values for building’s embodied energy across EU countries, we also propose the development of reference benchmarks expressed per unit of heated floor area. In generating these benchmarks, we account for the building shape factor (the ratio of the heat exchange area of the building’s envelope to the heated volume of the building), which is also used in the assessment of operational energy performance of buildings - and distinguish between two categories of envelope systems: heavy-mass and lightweight. We further present simplified examples demonstrating that relative indicators (e.g., GWP per m² of heated floor area) related to the shape factor provide a more accurate picture of actual environmental performance compared to values expressed only in relation to the unit of building’s heated floor area.