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Sustainability

Let’s solve
the green transition together – everyone benefits from sustainable operations

We are confident that humanity will find ways to take care of the Earth. Sustainability involves not only taking care of the environment, but also the well-being of people.

Sustainability and low-carbon solutions are rapidly becoming prerequisites for real estate business.

Are you ready to turn sustainability requirements to your advantage? We’re here to help! We clarify the numerous challenges and ESG requirements coming from all sides. We work with you to choose sustainability targets and help achieve them.

We help you choose the right direction, find optimal solutions that fit your budget and integrate them.

Sustainability

Market survey: real estate investors lead the way in the environmental sustainability of construction projects


According to a market survey on environmental sustainability carried out by Granlund, clear environmental targets are rarely set for construction projects. There is also room for improvement in the way their implementation is monitored.

We are sustainability leaders in the real estate and construction sector

150+

More than a hundred sustainability and energy consultants

400

Sustainability-guided construction projects every year

60

NPS for Granlund’s sustainability services

Say no to greenwashing!

Our services always have a real impact on your sustainability. We do not carry out measures that result in greenwashing.

Instead of simply producing documentation to collect dust in your archives, we genuinely help you reach your sustainability goals.

Legislators and investors require sustainability.

Davor Stjelja, Priyanka Thapa, Anna Korolyuk ja Nhung Nguyen

Employees are actively involved in developing Granlund’s diversity efforts

15.02.2024 – Granlund’s international employees are a valuable resource in developing the diversity of the work community and expanding expertise. Four Granlund…

News

How we calculate our carbon handprint

10.10.2023 – When we help our customers reduce their carbon footprint, we increase our carbon handprint. We calculate our carbon handprint using…

Blog post

Should we calculate carbon handprint alongside carbon footprint?

30.03.2023 – Carbon handprint aims at capturing the positive climate impacts that a company produces to its’ clients or to the society…

Blog post

EU taxonomy for sustainable activities should not be ignored

31.01.2023 – The EU classification system for sustainable funding, also known as EU taxonomy, impacts construction projects. The planning stages of a…

Blog post

How data center operators should prepare for water risks?

17.12.2021 – Data centers are long-term investments and the clients appreciate security, connectivity, stability and scalability. How should the data center operators…

Blog post

A supercomputer to heat houses in northern Finland

23.10.2020 – The efficient heat recovery system of the LUMI supercomputer will be optimised using a digital twin. In other data centres,…

News

Granlund Group continues remote work but is also carefully returning to office

15.06.2020 – Due to the better Coronavirus epidemic situation in Finland, we are partly getting back to office.

News

Health and well-being a priority also in challenging conditions

20.03.2020 – The coronavirus is affecting daily life everywhere and at Granlund we are doing our part to respond to the situation…

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Granlund Group prepares for Coronavirus epidemic by preferring remote work

13.03.2020 – We prefer remote work and only necessary face to face meetings for less than 10 people will be organized.

News

Environmentally friendly cooling for a supercomputer

04.03.2020 – Granlund has designed the data center for the European supercomputer to be located in Kajaani. The data center operations are…

News

Managing the big picture is crucial in sustainability

When it comes to sustainability, it is important to look at the big picture. The mitigation of climate change is a key goal in construction and property management, but reducing emissions and improving energy efficiency must not guide choices at the expense of health or safety.

We find suitable solutions to all of your needs, whether they concern reducing the carbon footprint of a property, improving energy efficiency or ensuring the conditions of properties.

Towards carbon neutrality – and beyond

Companies and organisations in the real estate and construction sector have increasingly set themselves the goal of low-carbon or completely carbon-neutral business. The most ambitious ones are already talking about carbon negativity. The means to achieve these are already there, but achieving the goals will require being systematic and comprehensively reviewing the measures to reduce emissions.

Despite the common belief, low-carbon construction does not always cost more than conventional construction. On the contrary, ecological solutions in design and material choices can reduce lifecycle costs.

In construction, the desired outcome is reached when low carbon emissions or carbon neutrality are set as the goal already before the actual planning commences.

In existing properties, a systematic and comprehensive approach produces the best results in terms of reducing the carbon footprint. After surveying the emissions, the next step is to find out how the emissions can be cut most efficiently. It is essential to focus on the biggest and fastest-acting emission reduction measures.

Roadmap to carbon neutrality

A well-managed carbon neutrality project provides savings and improves the competitiveness of the company. Read more!

Data-driven sustainability management

Data-driven sustainability management is our solution for managing the sustainability goals of the real estate and construction industry. This is what it comprises:

Current state survey

Roadmap

Continuous monitoring

Present evidence: comprehensive sustainability reporting

Transparency is an essential element of sustainability. Because data is our passion, we also always want to prove that sustainability is not just talk. In addition to well-managed sustainability work, it is important that the work and its results are fully and clearly reported to the property’s users, tenants, investors and other key stakeholders. Fact-based communication separates sustainable operations from “greenwashing” that only involves artificially polishing up the image.

Granlund Manager makes the monitoring of environmental impacts easy

We have developed comprehensive tools for measuring and validating environmental impacts and energy consumption.

Does your property portfolio meet the EU taxonomy requirements?

The EU taxonomy defines sustainability criteria for environmentally sustainable investments. To comply with the taxonomy, business operations must produce a significant improvement in climate change mitigation or adaptation without having an adverse effect on other environmental objectives. Initially, the taxonomy compliance reporting obligation applies to the financial sector and major companies, but the effects are quickly reflected in the real estate sector as a whole.

According to forecasts, in 2025, one third of investments will be made in ESG investment objects that have been assessed as sustainable. When financiers look for sustainable investment objects, the value and liquidity of properties that meet the taxonomy requirements will increase.

AI Taxonomy Survey

Granlund’s AI-based AI Taxonomy Survey is the most efficient calculation tool on the market for assessing the taxonomy potential of existing properties. We can quickly establish the potential of even a wide range of properties to meet the EU taxonomy requirements.

Energy efficiency is worthwhile

It is estimated that the built environment accounts for more than 40% of global emissions. Most of this is due to the energy use of buildings, but the production chains of construction materials also have a role to play.

Improving energy efficiency is one of the cornerstones of sustainable construction and property maintenance. It can significantly reduce emissions and costs. In property maintenance, significant results can be achieved with zero investment, as long as we know what to address. Data plays a key role.

Smart building technology can comprehensively control the energy efficiency of a building. At the same time, it ensures optimum indoor conditions and the comfort of the premises.

Circular economy is a necessity

Promoting the circular economy is also making its way to the real estate and construction sector. The starting point is that all resources should circulate as efficiently as possible, whether energy or material is concerned.

From the point of view of Earth’s carrying capacity, the circular economy is a necessity, because together with infrastructure construction, the construction sector globally consumes approximately 40–50% of the world’s raw materials. Alongside low-carbon economy, the circular economy is an efficient way of minimising the negative impacts of construction.

As a company specialising in MEP Design services, the circular economy is particularly visible at Granlund in energy solutions: energy recycling is taken into account in every one of our projects that concern energy systems in any way.

In the future, even smarter use of materials will be increasingly on the agenda. The circular economy of materials is boosted by the increasing availability of information about building materials and their environmental impacts.

In construction, the circular economy is closely linked to the reduction of emissions and carbon footprint. For example, our carbon footprint calculation can be used to determine whether a site should be demolished and built completely anew or whether the best option would be to renovate the existing building.

Emphasis on the well-being of the property’s users

Sustainability is also about the well-being, health and safety of the property’s users. Every construction and development project and property management should aim to create conditions in which people feel well.

Research proves that people perform better, cooperate better and make better decisions in comfortable premises. Indoor comfort is enhanced by optimum air quality, lighting and sound conditions, for example. It is also important to ensure that buildings serve everyone equally.

We are well familiar with both properties and their MEP and we know how important buildings are for people’s well-being. Our off-the-shelf concepts and digital tools help develop well-being and the user experience step by step.

Adaptability is sustainability

Buildings can no longer be designed and built to serve a single purpose. Making buildings adaptable ensures that they are future-proof. Its samrt to ensure that the buildings meet the changing needs of business, work and the property’s users in the future as well.

Standardised sustainability

Environmental certification has become an important tool for environmental management in the real estate and construction sectors. International independently certified and widely used certifications (such as LEED, BREEAM) demonstrate transparently to tenants and investors that the construction or maintenance of the property complies with the principles of sustainable development.

However, sustainability is not achieved through certification alone. Environmental certifications are excellent tools for promoting the material efficiency of a construction project and adaptation to climate change, for example, but certification is not enough on its own. Work towards sustainability begins even before the construction phase. When management and the operating models are in order, it is the purpose of environmental certification to prove it.

The EU Taxonomy and Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation is a new tool for measuring sustainability. Designed in particular for investors, the taxonomy helps focus investments on low-carbon and resource-efficient targets.

Would you like to discuss the topic in more detail? Contact us

Tytti Bruce-Hyrkäs is a long-term expert in the real estate and construction sector. She has also exported Finnish carbon neutrality expertise around the world, working with leading experts in the field in dozens of countries. 

Bruce-Hyrkäs also has a wealth of experience in development work in this field. Among other things, she has been involved in preparing the  Ministry of the Environment of Finland’s  low-carbon construction road map report  on introducing the building’s lifecycle carbon footprint to the steering of the construction sector.

In addition to her work, Bruce-Hyrkäs chairs  Green Building Council Finland’s low-carbon construction committee in cooperation with approximately 60 construction-sector specialists.

Tytti Bruce-Hyrkäs

Vastuullisuusliiketoiminnan kehitysjohtaja
Granlund Oy

At Granlund, operating sustainably is about taking responsibility for the quality of one’s own actions and for the environment. It is important that sustainability is present in our day-to-day lives.

Granlund has been a pioneer in Lean thinking in the real estate and construction sector. According to Maila Herva, there is still a lot of room for improvement in Lean thinking and operations in the design and construction sector.

Currently, the mitigation of climate change is emphasised in Herva’s work. Granlund has taken, and will continue to take, major steps to reduce emissions. The goal is to be a carbon-neutral company.

However, the work that Granlund’s experts do with their customers is of key importance in reducing emissions. In the fight against climate change, technical building services play a huge role. Granlund’s goal is to maximise the carbon handprint, i.e. to maximise the emission-reducing impact in customers’ sites or projects.

Good conditions for sustainable growth are there when employees feel good and enjoy their work and the working methods and equipment are in order.

Maila Herva

Laatu- ja vastuullisuusjohtaja
Granlund Oy

Our other strengths

Energy

Energy has been at the core of our operations throughout our existence of more than 60 years. We have extended our carbon handprint to the entire lifecycle of properties.

Productivity

New business models, refined collaboration, modern IT solutions and strong lifecycle management models are needed to improve productivity in the construction sector.

Data and digitalisation

At Granlund, we believe that data and digital tools serve all real estate and construction sector parties from investors and developers to property users and maintenance staff.

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