Primary energy implications over the life cycle of a multi storey residential building with different building systems are explored here. The main structural materials of the buildings include precast concrete, cross laminated timber (CLT) and prefabricated timber modules (modular). The analysis covers energy and material flows from different life cycle phases of the building versions, designed to meet the energy performance of the Swedish building code (BBR) and passive house criteria. The CLT and modular buildings were found to result in lower production primary energy use and higher biomass residues compared to the concrete alternative. The heating value of the recoverable biomass residues from the production phase of the CLT building is significantly larger than the primary energy required for its production. Primary energy use for production and construction constitutes 20-30% and 36-47% of the total primary energy use for production, construction, space heating, ventilation and demolition for the BBR and passive buildings, respectively. Space heating with combined heat and power (CHP) and ventilation electricity for the BBR and passive building versions form 70-79% and 52-63%, respectively, of the total primary energy use for production, construction, space heating, ventilation and demolition for a lifespan of 80 years. The CLT and modular buildings give 20-37% and 9-17% lower total life cycle primary energy use, respectively, than the concrete alternative when space heating is from CHP. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.