A joint industry project explored how to enable a circular economy in the building services sector. It provides researched information and concrete instructions.
Construction consumes significant natural resources: up to 55 percent of the natural resources consumed in Finland are used in construction, and construction accounts for 12 percent of waste*.
A circular economy in construction is needed to reduce these impacts. In addition to environmental benefits, a circular economy can also help reduce costs.
Building services components and systems are generally the second largest source of material-related carbon emissions in commercial construction, after the frame. Building services are also a significant source of emissions caused by maintenance and parts replacement during maintenance.
Building systems often contain valuable materials, such as metals. Part of this is why recycling as a material has long been a practice. However, a true circular economy in building systems means recycling and reusing equipment and components.
In many buildings, such as commercial premises, offices and hotels, changes to the space are made relatively frequently during the building's life cycle.
"In renovations, building services are renewed long before the end of the life cycle of the parts. The Building Services Circular Economy project investigated the conditions for products to be dismantled to be recycled almost as they are for a new purpose," says the CEO. Ilkka Salo From the Finnish Building Technology Industry and Trade Association.
*Sources: VN: Material flows in the Finnish economy and their impacts and Statistics Finland's StatFin waste statistics.
Concrete instructions for industry players
In the Building Services Circular Economy project, a joint project of building services industry players Information was collected and through example sites, we investigated how the circular economy works in practice. How should the process of reusing building services components be handled in practice, and for whom could the different tasks be suitable?
The instruction cards have been prepared for the following target groups: property owner, designer, wholesaler, product manufacturer and contractor. The material produced in the project is available to everyone and free of charge.
Comprehensive report on the circular economy in building services
In addition, the project prepared a comprehensive background report highlighting the current state and prospects of the circular economy in building services. The report describes, among other things, implemented examples of the circular economy in building services, the building services components that are most potentially suitable for reuse, and the aspects to be considered when reusing different components.
Development has its slow-downs, but also its accelerations
“There are many obstacles to the development of the circular economy in building services, for example, revenue models that do not support reuse. However, this is partly due to a lack of expertise and the fact that there has been no common process,” says the expert on the project. Charlotte Nyholm From Granlund.
Although the circular economy is in its early stages, the good thing is that there is a very comprehensive amount of data available on building technology. HVAC ja telephone numbers .
"The numbers identify HVAC and electrical products sold in Finland and, at best, they can even be found on the side of the physical device or product. This is a significant advantage in terms of enabling reuse compared to many construction products, where the manufacturer or technical information is not linked to the physical item," says Talteka's division manager. Magnus Sirén.
Building services circular economy project
The main implementer of the Building Technology Circular Economy project, which started a year ago, is the Building Technology Industry and Trade Association (Talteka) and the implementing consultant is Granlund. The property owners involved in the project are CapMan Real Estate and Sponda. The project also includes AMP-Yhtiöt Oy, the Helsinki Circular Economy Cluster Programme, Ahlsell Oy, the Quality Foundation for Building Products, Green Building Council Finland, the HVAC product information register LVI-info.fi and the Finnish Electrical Engineering Trade Association.
The project has received support from the Ministry of the Environment under the Low Carbon Built Environment Programme, which is funded by the EU's one-off recovery instrument.
More information
Ilkka Salo
CEO
ilkka.salo@rt.fi + 358 40 847 9907Finnish Building Services Industries and Trade (Talteka)
Magnus Sirén, Director, Product Information, Talteka
Tel. +358 40 844 8952 / magnus.siren@talteka.fi