First Nordic Swan Ecolabel renovation saves climate, environment and millions
Ronnebyhus and Peab are the first in Sweden to meet the Nordic Swan Ecolabel's requirements for renovation. When Ronneby's municipal housing company renovated the housing area “Flygarbostäderna” from the 1950s instead of demolishing it, they saved on the environment, climate and money.
15 million SEK has been saved through the renovation. Instead of demolishing and building 18 new apartments, all 27 apartments could be renovated for the same amount. In addition, the historic charm of 1950s design remains, for example, on kitchen cabinets, wardrobes, windows and entrance areas.
"We have reused as much as possible and made an effort to find Nordic Swan Ecolabel material. This was a challenge for many subcontractors, but it has contributed to them switching to environmentally better products. By renovating instead of demolishing and building new, there were more apartments, less environmental impact, and not least – lower monthly rent for the residents," says Martin Lindström, Acting Property Manager at Ronnebyhus.
The renovation meets strict environmental requirements, ensures a good indoor climate and low energy consumption. The Nordic Ecolabel's requirements are set from a life cycle perspective:
"There is an urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to achieve climate goals. We need to be better at making use of our resources to transition to a more circular economy. This project is a very good example of the reuse of building products and materials. We congratulate Ronnebyhus and Peab for being the first to meet the Nordic Swan Ecolabel's requirements for renovation," says Kirsikka Englund, advisor at Ecolabelling Sweden.
Retaining the building's frame and façade, as well as renovating windows, has resulted in significant climate savings compared to demolishing and building new.
"At all stages, from planning to finished product, we have gained a deeper understanding of the underlying processes and the importance of the right choice of materials. We have had to think outside the box to achieve the greatest possible environmental benefit at the right price. For example, many people are used to always replacing the windows when renovating. Here, we got a significantly greater climate benefit when we instead renovated the windows and added an extra energy glass. We also found an alternative pipe solution that was cheaper than the one originally planned," says Martin Niemann, Project Manager at Peab.
According to Peab's calculations the project has avoided a climate impact of 660 tons of CO2e. To get an idea of the size of the savings Peab has compared it to plasterboard. 660 tonnes of CO2e is equivalent to almost 3,000 tonnes of gypsum board. If you were to stack the plasterboard on top of each other, it would correspond to the combined height of 10 buildings like Turning Torso in Malmö. See fact box.
This is how the renovation saved the environment, climate and money.
By preserving the building components, the building structure, frame and façade, the project has avoided a climate impact of 251 kg CO2e / m2 gross area, which for the project gives a total of about 660 tons of CO2e. (Based on the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning's reference values for new production1). This corresponds to 2,936 tonnes of plasterboard, the number of plasterboards 151,010. If the plasterboards were stacked on top of each other, it would correspond to 10 Turning Torso, a 190 m high building in Malmö. Building material – gypsum source climate impact: The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning's climate database for gypsum board, standard board dimensions gypsum board: 900*2400*12.5 mm. The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning's climate database - Climate declaration - Boverket
Source: Reference values for the climate impact of the construction of buildings. Version 3, 2023. KTH on behalf of the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning.
This is how Ronnebyhus has calculated savings based on the average of new production with apartment buildings:
The cost of building new apartments is about 2.2 million SEK or 32 000 SEK m2 BOA, the cost for this project is about 1.4 million SEK/apartment or 24 000 SEK/m2 BOA.
27 apartments could be renovated for the same amount as it would have cost to build 18 new apartments. Source: Ronnebyhus
The Nordic Swan Ecolabel's requirements for renovation:
- Inventory before the renovation so that substances and hazardous waste that are hazardous to health and the environment are disposed of correctly • Low energy consumption after renovation
- A good indoor environment through requirements for moisture safety, air quality and radon.
- Construction products, materials and chemical products meet high environmental and health requirements that ensure low emissions of hazardous chemicals.
- Promotes the reuse of construction products and materials
- A material logbook to ensure traceability.
- A controlled construction process