In the low-carbon road map work, information that has not been available before has been gathered on a unique and extensive scale. The work has been characterized by openness, aito enthusiasm and commitment to produce much-needed material, industry-specific emission maps and scenarios for rapid low-carbon. Action proposals that industries and their stakeholders can commit to must be both impressive and realistic.
In Prime Minister Sanna Marini's government program, various industry associations were asked to investigate greenhouse gas emissions, industry-specific low-carbon road maps. This launched an unprecedented series of projects in the second half of 2019. The construction industry RT and twelve other industry associations quickly started the work of drawing up road maps. Despite the very tight schedule and the corona crisis, all the roadmaps are mostly being completed now in June, as the Ministry of Labor and Economy, which coordinated the work package, had hoped.
Scale and price tag are decisive
When the goal is carbon-neutral Finland 2035, the necessary change is enormous. The goal of the Ministry of Labor and Economic Affairs has been to get a more accurate understanding of the scale and price tag of the necessary measures with the road maps. It is also essential to give the general public a picture of how carbon neutrality could be progressed.
Construction industry RT has drawn up its own road map in cooperation with the Ministry of the Environment, various stakeholders and expert partner, Gaia Consulting. It was already clear from the beginning that the investigation could not be limited only to the construction industry's own activities, the production of construction materials and products, and site operations. The review of ways to effectively reduce emissions was extended to the built environment.
Our goal was to identify the most significant emission sources, the measures enabling low carbon, and key uncertainties, and to set goals for the various players in the construction industry. In further work, measures proposals and goals can also be set for other important stakeholders.
The big picture of the road map of the construction industry is clear and the numbers are unambiguous. The carbon neutrality of the built environment requires quick actions to be implemented, especially to reduce the emissions of the energy use of the existing building stock. By far the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment is the energy consumption of buildings, although the transition to lower-emission energy sources has reduced the carbon footprint of the operational phase by more than a quarter of the last decade.
Low carbon with sustainability
As for the construction phase, reducing the emissions from the manufacturing of building materials is one of the methods used to reduce the carbon footprint. The cement and steel industries have long been doing emission reduction work with their manufacturing technology development, and they will have a significant impact on the emission reduction path. The differences between different materials in emissions can be seen at the building level mostly with a magnifying glass and are of the order of a million when looking at the effects on total emissions.
In infrastructure construction, significant reduction potential can be found especially in the regional utilization of aggregates, which reduces the need for transportation, and the use of recycled and recycled materials. Reducing emissions from construction site operations, especially through electrification and switching to biofuels, is also an important part of the low-carbon construction industry.
The construction industry's low-carbon road map comprehensively shows actions of different scales. The most impactful measures and their implementation are critical in terms of the ambitious goal of carbon neutrality. Still, even small measures are important, even if their amount of emission reduction remains small in the big picture.
Measures are already taking place in a market-driven and -conditional manner. They are examples of responsible operations that cannot or need not always be measured by emissions.
Although the pressure to reduce emissions is great, it must be done in a controlled manner. Sustainable construction requires taking into account all life cycle quality factors. For example, the preservation of health, safety and economic value throughout the entire service life must be ensured. During their lifetime, buildings must be able to be converted to different uses. And the longer the life cycle and the less need for repairs during it, the lower the emissions and costs.
Climate change is curbed by reducing emissions, but the changing weather conditions are already severely affecting the built environment as well. The weather resistance of building components and the control of indoor temperatures are emphasized when mild and humid winters, slanting rains and hot summers become more common.
Pekka Vuorinen
environment and energy director
Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries (CFCI)
Check out the results of Rakennusteollisuus RT's road map work
www.rakennusteollisuus.fi/tiekartta
Thank you for the interesting article about how the construction industry tries to reduce its emissions. We now have to really invest in this. As far as I understand, steel as a material can be very ecological if it is made from recycled raw material, such as old steel halls.