Reducing emissions from construction and building use

Assessment objective

The main question of the assessment was whether any measures of the Carbon-neutral Helsinki 2035 (HNH 2035) action plan related to construction and building use have been implemented. Through interviews, email enquiries and the Ilmastovahti service, it was assessed whether the Urban Environment Division and Helsinki City Housing Company (Heka) have implemented the measures of the HNH 2035 action plan. It was also assessed whether emission reductions have been implemented in cooperation with businesses and city residents.

Conclusions

The Urban Environment Division and Heka have carried out key measures of the HNH 2035 action plan to reduce emissions from construction and the use of buildings. According to a rough estimate made in the assessment, one third of the measures now being carried out have progressed well or very well. Not all the measures appeared to have up-to-date information on the Ilmastovahti website, and impact assessments had not been presented for most measures.

The Urban Environment Division has started to implement the measures of the HNH 2035 action plan related to construction and building use. However, some of the construction-related measures had so far progressed slowly for various reasons. Due to the long lifecycle of buildings, it is necessary to speed up these measures in order to meet the emission reduction targets on time. Heka has implemented significant measures to reduce emissions from the use of buildings related to energy efficiency requirements, renovations and energy refurbishments, for example. Heka’s emission reduction measures related to construction are still mainly pilots. For example, wood construction has only been implemented in a few projects and circular economy solutions are only being tested.