The built environment causes 30 percent of Finland's emissions. When it comes to reducing emissions, the biggest bangs should be aimed at the biggest causes.
Climate change is not only one of our more serious threats, but also one of the biggest drivers of nature loss.
Emissions cannot be cut sufficiently by any single trick or the actions of one industry, but the role of the built environment in the whole is significant.
It is most effective to focus emission reduction measures where the most emissions are generated. The lion's share, 76 percent, of the carbon footprint of buildings comes from energy consumption when using buildings. During construction, the carbon footprint of the materials is the most important.
According to the construction industry's low-carbon road map, the following three methods in particular are decisive for reducing the carbon footprint of the built environment: switching to emission-free heating methods, reducing the energy consumption of existing buildings and extending their life cycle, and reducing emissions from concrete and steel production.
1. Increasing emission-free heat production systems
The built environment is responsible for almost a third of all energy consumption in Finland. Energy is used in buildings for heating, cooling, hot water and various electrical devices.
Energy consumption during the use of buildings is by far the largest source of emissions in the built environment, although its share has decreased. That's why the form of energy matters, whether it's an old or a new building
Wind, sun and water are the experts of Rakennusteollisuus RT Jani Kemppainen including clear ways to produce energy without burning carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In particular, wind power production capacity is being rapidly increased in Finland. Nuclear power is also included in emission-free energy production.
"Energy production technology and cost-effectiveness are developing and thereby helping to reduce the emissions of energy consumption in buildings. In addition to new, even greener forms of energy, the use of existing production methods is also enhanced. For example, district heating plants already recover heat from return water, heat is already being recovered from the sewage coming to waste water plants," says Kemppainen.
In addition to consumption, buildings also increasingly produce energy with, for example, ground and air heat pumps, solar panels and heat recovery. Along with the choice of energy form, it is essential to reduce the total energy consumption of buildings. At the same time, it frees up energy for other uses.
It would take 100 years for new construction to improve the entire energy efficiency.
Kemppainen says that energy efficiency in buildings has improved tremendously in ten years.
"Finland is doing well. Due to our northern location, the buildings are basically already at a better level compared to the rest of Europe, because energy would otherwise be consumed at an incredible rate."
According to Kemppainen, the energy efficiency requirements will become even more stringent with the EU directives, which will be seen in practice from 2026 onwards. There is already a lot of discussion about how the EU requires and obligates repairs, where housing associations will have a large responsibility.
"Our building stock is renewed at a rate of 1-2 percent per year. It would take 100 years for new construction to achieve the entire energy efficiency improvement required by the directives. Unfortunately, climate change will not be affected at that rate," sums up Kemppainen.
In old buildings, energy consumption can be cost-effectively reduced, for example, by improving the building's thermal insulation, developing heat recovery solutions, and using ventilation controls and automation. The building users' own choices also have an effect.
2. Extending the life cycle of buildings and structures
Renovation construction that improves energy efficiency reduces the energy consumption of buildings and helps to keep them in use longer. This not only saves nature but also costs.
"Extending the useful life of buildings and infrastructures is an environmental act," Kemppainen reminds.
According to Kemppainen, Finland has a young construction population compared to other European countries. Finland urbanized quite late and therefore a large part of the buildings were built after the Second World War, of course there are also older ones.
According to Kemppainen's information, the real average age of the entire building stock and the corresponding life expectancy have not been calculated. The calculated life cycle for buildings used in surveys is 50 years in Finland. According to Kemppainen, it is far too short.
"In the 1970s, a huge number of suburbs were built, prefab houses that were designed to last 25 years. They have been in use for 50 years now, and when they are properly renovated, they will serve for another 50 years. 100 years is already a good target lifespan for a house".
Smart housing associations prepare for things and know five, even ten years ahead, what repairs will be made.
According to Kemppainen, Finns take pretty good care of their buildings, and that's what sets us apart from other countries. Our buildings consume a lot of energy, so attention has always been paid to that.
"The life cycle and condition of the buildings are well known, but taking on repairs is being stretched unnecessarily far. As the EU's energy efficiency requirements tighten, the threshold may increase further, because energy efficiency must be improved in connection with other repairs."
has repair debt for 70–80 billion euros, and it is growing all the time.
According to Kemppainen, there are big differences between housing companies. Two houses standing next to each other, which look the same from the outside, can be in a completely different category in terms of energy efficiency. In the other, the windows may have been replaced and the doors sealed, the upper floor and even the facade insulated, the cold storage facilities on the basement floor taken out of use. Perhaps mechanical ventilation with heat recovery has been done, perhaps the heating method has also been changed. In the neighboring house, everything may not be done yet.
According to Kemppainen, the Finnish housing association model, where the shareholders own the housing association, is unique worldwide. It has its advantages, but sometimes decision-making is difficult and slow when each owner looks at the investments required for repairs from their own perspective. Not everyone is necessarily ready to invest or not everyone has the opportunity to commit to big projects, even if active participants try to run them.
However, according to Kemppainen, planned real estate management is something worth investing in.
"Smart housing associations prepare for the future and know five, even ten years ahead, what repairs will be made. Timeliness is the key - to plan well and tender the authors in peace. If you expect something to break, fixing it is out of control and costs more. The availability of financing will also become more difficult if the need for repairs accumulates," says Kemppainen.
3. Development and use of low-carbon building materials
In construction, technological development in the production of building materials, especially cement and steel, which will continue to be used in large quantities in the future, is of great importance. According to Rakennusteollisuus RT, the biggest research, development and investment contributions should be directed to these.
Concrete, and cement as its raw material, is the world's most used construction material, and therefore cement production emissions play a big role. Concrete production accounts for up to seven percent of the world's greenhouse gases, in Finland its share is two and a half percent.
Due to its properties, concrete is widely used not only in the frame structures of houses, but also, for example, in building foundations and infrastructure construction, such as bridges. Since concrete cannot be replaced on a large scale with other materials, the solution to reducing emissions must be found in concrete itself.
"Various low-carbon concretes have already been developed in Finland, in which the proportion of cement has been reduced and replaced with other, lower-emission admixtures. These additives are side streams from other industries, such as blast furnace slag from steel production and fly ash from burning coal," says Kemppainen.
The main raw material of cement, clinker, is mainly burnt limestone. The manufacture of this consumes a lot of energy, because the temperature of the material must rise very high in the manufacturing process.
Emissions generated in the production of clinker are reduced by using more energy-efficient equipment and bio and recycled fuels for burning limestone. According to Kemppainen, the carbon emission of Finnish cement has already been reduced by more than 30 percent with these methods, and it is at the top level in Europe.
In construction, the development of manufacturing of building materials is of great importance. The largest R&D contributions should be directed to these.
In the future, emissions from cement production can possibly be significantly cut with the help of technology that captures and stores carbon dioxide. This so-called pipe plugging refers to technical carbon sinks, which capture and permanently store the carbon dioxide produced in the manufacturing process.
Another energy-intensive building material is steel. In its production, the goal is to switch to mostly using hydrogen reduction technology.
In the hydrogen reduction process, coal is replaced by hydrogen produced with renewable energy. Hydrogen reduction produces water as an emission instead of carbon dioxide. With the help of new hydrogen technology, the emissions of the steel manufacturing process can eventually be minimized to close to zero.
"In itself, steel is the most accurately recycled material in the construction industry. Since the use of steel will increase, however, recycling will not nearly replace the total need. Reaching the climate goals requires new manufacturing technologies," says Kemppainen.
The low-carbon road map prepared by Rakennusteollisuus RT determines the means to effectively reduce emissions in the built environment and contributes to the achievement of Finland's goal of carbon neutrality by 2035.
In the road map work, the annual carbon footprint of the construction industry and the built environment, the means of reducing emissions and their prerequisites were determined for the first time at the level of the whole of Finland. The low-carbon construction industry 2035 roadmap was completed in 2020 and its updated version was published in June 2024.
In the updated carbon footprint calculation, the annual carbon footprint of Finland's built environment was approximately 14,5 million tons of CO2e. Included in the calculation are the materials of the construction projects completed in the accounting year and the implemented Site activities, as well as the emissions resulting from the use of the existing built environment.
The carbon footprint shrinks the most is the rapid decarbonization of electricity and district heating used to heat buildings. In the future, the energy efficiency renovations of buildings accelerated by the green transition regulation and the construction industry's own climate measures will also cut emissions at an accelerating pace.
Check out the Low-carbon Industry 2035 roadmap
In addition to calculating the carbon footprint, Rakennusteollisuus RT ry has prepared a biodiversity road map, with which the construction industry wants to participate in stopping nature loss. The road map shows the direction for the nature-positive transition of the industry. In construction, nature positivity means not only avoiding harm caused to nature, but also supporting and revitalizing nature.
Read more about supporting biodiversity and the biodiversity roadmap
