As a representative of the European Commission, I am often asked by construction professionals how they can stay ahead of EU legislation on sustainability and embrace changes in their work.

Our answer is ‘Level(s)’: the EU’s common language for assessing the sustainability performance of buildings across their whole life cycle.

What is Level(s)?

Level(s) is the EU’s solution to sustainability assessment in buildings.

It aims to create a more circular built environment, which will help meet the European Green Deal objectives of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and economic growth decoupled from resource use.

Level(s) comprises six objectives addressing a building’s main sustainability considerations, from planning and design through to deconstruction and demolition. It improves data collection across all stages and aspects, providing a common language to enhance communication between professionals.

After being tested by construction industry stakeholders, the framework has been freely available since October 2020. It is now used by wide-ranging professionals such as project managers, developers, investors, planners, procurers, manufacturers, architects, and waste management professionals.

Why should construction professionals use Level(s)?

The Level(s) sustainability indicators describe how to align a building’s performance with EU policy in areas such as energy, material use, water, waste, and resilience to climate change.

Level(s) is also guiding changes to legislation. It informed the recent European Commission Proposal for the Construction Product Regulation and is being used to revise the Green Public Procurement Criteria for Office Buildings. It is referenced in the proposed revision of the Energy Efficiency Directive, which encourages a life-cycle perspective in public building procurement.

The Commission’s revision to the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive also calls for construction professionals to use Level(s) to calculate the Global Warming Potential for most new builds from 2030.

Using Level(s), therefore, is a simple way for you to stay compliant with EU legislation and stay ahead of the latest policy changes.

Getting started: the Level(s) eLearning programme

To help you use the framework, the Commission has developed a free Level(s) eLearning programme and Calculation and Assessment Tool (CAT), available here.

The eLearning programme can be used by those involved in any stage of the life cycle and highlights the roles and responsibilities of different types of professional.

It contains seven online modules, which you can work through according to your needs. These modules include useful case studies and are your starting point to understand how to apply Level(s) in practice.

Once you are more familiar with the framework, you can also use the CAT to complete sustainability performance assessments.

You may also find it useful to watch this European Commission webinar, recorded in June 2022, which introduced these tools and answered questions from construction professionals.

More information

Visit the Level(s) website to find more information.

We encourage you to join the Level(s) LinkedIn group, where you can stay updated on developments and interact with our growing community of stakeholders:

Make sure you also subscribe to the Level(s) newsletter to receive the latest news: