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Green construction

From autumn 2010, all of NCC Construction Sweden’s new construction sites will be environmentally friendly. This is a broad based initiative and is called Green construction.

The environmental and climate friendliness of NCC’s construction will be implemented in all new projects over SEK 50 million started in Sweden after autumn 2010. This means that workplaces will be more energy efficient with energy efficient building huts, environmentally friendly vehicles, less transportation and eco-labelled electricity.

Green construction is also part of NCC's environmental profile bids, called Green bids, which contain a climate declaration and carbon offsetting.

Our definition of Green construction includes:

  • Eco-labelled electricity
  • Energy efficient building huts
  • Timer-controlled lighting
  • Energy efficient equipment
  • Efficient transport
  • Environmentally friendly waste management

Environmentally friendly construction is an important part of the company’s effort to reduce its climatic impact and the purpose of the change is to accelerate the environmental transformation of the construction industry. The initiative also supports the Group's environmental objective of a shift towards climate-neutral products and services.

Energy use must be reduced in construction

One major reason for limiting the environmental footprint of production and for concentrating on Green construction is because it is an important part of calculating a building's life cycle costs.
During a building's lifetime, energy consumption was previously around 15 percent for production, the remaining 85 percent of the energy used was used in its maintenance. When constructing a low-energy building the ratios change, and the energy consumption during construction becomes a major part - if it is not environmentally friendly. As the demand for low-energy housing increases in the market, environment and climate friendly construction output will play an increasingly important role.

Svante Wijk, Energy CoordinatorSvante Wijk, energy coordinator for NCC Construction Sweden, is one of those who worked on the development guidelines for Green construction.

"Green construction means taking account of the climate and environment at the construction site and in production. For example, energy-efficient building huts, timer-controlled lighting and eco-labelled electricity can be provided so that a building qualifies as green. Using environmentally friendly vehicles and equipment and limiting the number of shipments are also important, as well as handling materials in an environmentally friendly way".

How quickly can construction sites become green?

"The transition to Green construction will of course take some time, even if it happens a lot in the industry and among plant leasers. Better products are constantly evolving, although it may be difficult to provide energy-efficient building huts in some places right now. Then you have to think about what you can do to change your own actions during that time. For example, placing insulation between and under the huts so that they become more energy efficient. Installing heat pumps and workplace lighting movement-sensors is also something that can be provided in many cases."

More information

Göran Gerth
Environmental Manager
Tel:+46 8 585 519 57