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Glossary termPublished inEPBD IV

Life-cycle global warming potential

Also known as life-cycle GWP, WLC-GWP

What does "Life-cycle global warming potential" mean under EPBD IV?

An indicator which quantifies the global warming potential contributions of a building along its full life cycle

Defined in / by

Last updated: 14 October 2026.

The number on the certificate

Life-cycle GWP is the indicator the Directive uses to put a building's whole-life climate impact into one figure. Where whole-life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions in point (24) describe what is counted, life-cycle GWP is the measure that gets calculated and reported.

Article 7(2) makes it compulsory for new buildings. Member States must ensure that it is calculated in accordance with Annex III and disclosed in the energy performance certificate: from 1 January 2028 for all new buildings with a useful floor area larger than 1,000 m², and from 1 January 2030 for all new buildings. Article 7(4) lets Member States leave out buildings whose permit applications were already submitted by those dates.

The calculation framework changed in 2026. Article 7(3) gave the Commission the power to amend Annex III with a Union framework for the national calculation, and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/52 did so; according to EUR-Lex it entered into force on 24 May 2026.

The indicator is heading towards limits. By 1 January 2027 Member States must publish a roadmap for limit values on the total cumulative life-cycle GWP of all new buildings, with targets from 2030 (Article 7(5)). It also appears in the digital building logbook definition and may be taken into account in cost-optimal calculations (Article 6(2)).

In the Netherlands, the duty for new buildings above 1,000 m² sits in the draft second tranche, and RVO gives 1 January 2028 as the start. IPLO planned a separate consultation on the calculation method in the Omgevingsregeling for August to October 2026.

Questions and answers

When must the life-cycle GWP be on the energy performance certificate?

From 1 January 2028 for new buildings with a useful floor area larger than 1,000 m², and from 1 January 2030 for all new buildings (Article 7(2) of EPBD IV).

What does WLC-GWP mean?

Whole life-cycle global warming potential. Dutch government pages use it for the indicator that EPBD IV calls life-cycle GWP.

Regulations

  • Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD IV)

    EPBD IV is Directive (EU) 2024/1275, the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. The Netherlands put its first tranche into force on 29 May 2026 (Stb. 2026, 103), with duties staged to 2033: recharging points in existing car parks from 1 January 2027, solar and lighting control from 1 January 2028. Energy label D by 2030 is still a proposal.

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    Solar installations on new public and non-residential buildings above 250 m² (Article 10(3)(a))