International launch of the world's first AI-poweredinfrastructure for carbon removals in the building sector

Zurich, 20 October 2026: After three years of development and more than 90 buildings with over72,000 tonnes of CO₂ locked in for the long term, Zurich-based prop tech and climate tech company Timber Carbon is launching the first AI-powered infrastructure for carbon removal in the building sector. For the first time, the carbon locked in a building becomes a tradable asset, and the emissions-intensive building sector is connected directly to the carbon markets. To finance its international expansion, the Swiss start-up is planning its first funding round.

From climate performance to a tradable asset

Plenty of fee-based building certifications and labels already exist to help meet regulatory requirements. Yetnone of them focuses on proving the long-term carbon storage of biobased building materials, and none isconnected to the carbon markets, their standards and their participants through AI-powered infrastructure. Thisis now available to the real estate industry for the first time. Decarbonising real estate thus gains a measurableeconomic value and turns from a pure cost factor into an asset that can be put to economic use.

Automated workflow

Timber Carbon's AI-powered infrastructure automates the entire certification process: from data collection for a construction project and the regionally specific carbon calculation, through independent certification and registration, to the issuance, sale and ongoing monitoring of the credits. The detailed record of building components also enables their later reuse in the circular economy and urban mining. Developers can count the credits generated towards their own carbon balance (insetting) or sell them on the voluntary carbon market,either immediately or at a later date (offsetting).

Timber Carbon Removal Credits

Removals from “timber in construction” are internationally recognised as negative emissions (IPCC, UNFCCC)¹.They meet the requirements of established standards for additionality, permanence and verification, and offer three advantages over technological removal methods: they can be scaled quickly; they carry no delivery risk,because certification only takes place once the building is complete; and they also reduce Scope 3 emissions²,because timber replaces concrete and steel. The credits are certified and registered under the international Rainbow Standard, which the ICVCM³ has approved as CCP-Eligible and whose recognition under the EU CarbonRemovals and Carbon Farming (CRCF) Regulation⁴ is expected by the end of 2026.

Construction is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise, and Timber Carbon shows what it takes to get it right. LUDOVIC CHATOUX, CEO, RAINBOW STANDARD

Decarbonising the building sector

The building sector accounts for around 36 per cent of global CO₂ emissions, a third of which come from building materials. It remains one of the last lightly regulated sectors. From 2028, the EU's new Emissions TradingSystem, ETS2⁵, will cover operational emissions from buildings for the first time. Also from 2028, larger newbuildings will have to disclose their life-cycle Global Warming Potential (GWP) under the EPBD⁶. France alreadycaps embodied carbon through RE2020⁷, and the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard follows the same path, as does Switzerland's new Minergie-Netto-Null (net zero) building standard. International rating systems such as BREEAM and LEED also set benchmarks for the carbon intensity of buildings. This makes biobased building materials the obvious choice, above all timber from sustainably managed forests, with its high climate performance. Putting a value on the climate performance of built-in timber is intended to double the share of biobased new builds among investment properties within ten years; depending on the country, that share currently stands at 0.5 to 10 per cent.

Until now, the climate performance of timber buildings has been economically invisible. Once it is certified and tradable, it changes the conversations with developers, and that is where the decision to build more in timber is made. VALENTIN WIESNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, WIEHAG TIMBER CONSTRUCTION

TIMBER CARBON

In three years, Timber Carbon has built the world's largest portfolio of biobased carbon removals in the building sector, with projects across German-speaking Europe. It comprises more than 90 buildings,which together lock in 72,000 tonnes of CO₂. By replacing concrete and steel, these projects have also avoided 65,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. Clients and business partners include Swiss Prime Site,PRIMUS and WIEHAG. The project received support from Built by Nature and the Migros Pioneer Fund .In 2023, Timber Carbon was also recognised by UpLink, the World Economic Forum's innovation platform, and it is well connected as an expert across a range of carbon removal platforms.To finance further growth and international expansion, the proptech and climate tech company is planning its first funding round for Q4 2026.

FOOTNOTES

1. IPCC and UNFCCC – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UN body for assessing climate science, and the United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change.
2. Scope 3 – indirect emissions across a company's value chain; in construction, mainly the embodied carbon of building materials.
3. ICVCM and CCP – the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market and its quality benchmark, the Core Carbon Principles icvcm.org
4. CRCF – the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2024/3012. eur-lex.europa.eu
5. EU ETS2 – the EU's second emissions trading system, which covers emissions from building operation from 2028. climate.ec.europa.eu
6. EPBD – the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, recast in 2024 as Directive (EU) 2024/1275.energy.ec.europa.eu
7. RE2020 – Réglementation environnementale 2020, France's environmental regulation for new buildings.ecologie.gouv.fr