CooperatorNews had the opportunity to speak with Antti Aaltonen, Director of Construction Development for the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries RT, based in Helsinki Finland. As part of the European Union (EU), Finland is committed to achieving a zero-carbon footprint by 2035, 15 years earlier than New York City in 2050. Aaltonen offered some strategies for what’s working in Finland’s fight against carbon emissions, and why.

CooperatorNews: Thanks so much for joining us today to discuss this important subject. I’d like to start by asking if you can give us a short summary of what is happening in Finland to comply with the EU’s zero-carbon initiative.

ANTTI AALTONEN: “It’s my pleasure to be here. As you may know, as part of the European Union, Finland agreed to carbon neutrality by 2035. All industries in Finland are committed to that goal. In real terms, it means we need to reduce CO2 by 80 percent by 2035, back to 2019 levels. While we did start towards this goal earlier than the U.S., it's still a new challenge, and a huge one. Regardless of that, we must be completely carbon neutral—the same as New York City under your Local Law 97.  It’s critically important to remember that when I’m speaking about our industry, I’m talking about many components, including real estate owners of all existing buildings, not just new construction. So far, we have been able to reduce greenhouse gases by fifteen percent.  How was this possible? Luckily, we have a lot of forest in Finland [that is] helping us reach our goals, but also because our construction work is cleaner, [and] because existing buildings are using clean energy. Our energy sector has gone clean. The next phase in achieving our goals is to start to decarbonize construction work itself. How do we decarbonize? First, we use low-carbon materials. We look at existing materials and how to produce them with less greenhouse gases, for instance, or use materials with lower carbon components to start. We also reuse existing materials; we create a circular economy.”

CN: One problem we face in the United States is a feeling of futility about climate change policies. Many believe the effort far outweighs the results. Did you have that problem in Finland, and if so how did you counter it?

AA: “There was a similar discussion in Finland. We are a nation of 5.5 million people, and the rest of the world is still consuming carbon fuels. Why should we bother? But in the past year, people have seen how the snow is declining. There’s too much rain. The climate is changing. We never experienced the kind of heat we see now. It became real. Finland is known for education, and the people trust science and government. Attitudes changed. We realized we can be the forerunners and innovators, and we can sell that knowledge and technology to others. We can give examples of what we have done, and make a business out of it. There’s also the fact that Finland is a small country.  We don’t have Norway’s oil, for instance, so we are forced to think, how can we be leaner and more productive? It’s an innovative culture, and has been since our independence [from Russia] 100 years ago. With our good educational system, we can be a tech leader.”

CN: I understand retrofitting has become an integral part of zero-carbon compliance.  Can you talk a little about that, and how it works?

AA: “When we speak about retrofitting in Finland, we are talking about how to give existing buildings a new life. We can change the way we use a building, for instance; an office can convert into apartments. Modernization is another example; updating existing buildings to be more energy efficient. Sometimes retrofitting just doesn’t work—especially in an energy sense—so knocking down the old and building new happens in Europe, as well. You have to be able to recognize when that is the case. Often, a special permit is required to knock down a building in an urban area, [so] overall, it may be a better choice to modify it. We look at what the estimated greenhouse cost is for the life of the building. It’s important to understand lifetime greenhouse emissions to make an educated and efficient decision.”

CN: What is one part of the sustainability puzzle that interests you in particular?

AA: “That’s an easy question: efficiency in the construction process. If we can increase productivity, it goes that we build the same with less resources, manpower, energy waste and materials—hence, less greenhouse gases. If we look at the past 50 years in the construction industry, productivity hasn’t changed, unlike in other industries. So increasing productivity offers us a lot to gain and reduce CO2 by building smarter, faster and with less resources.”

CN: What is the Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries, and what do they do?

AA: “We are a confederation of Finnish firms that together have developed strategies to lower carbon emissions, and then pass these strategies to industries. A good example is a carbon neutral road map. First we made an investigation into where carbon emissions were coming from, heating or producing or materials, etc.  Most of our emissions relate to existing buildings: two thirds are coming from there. The first stop on the roadmap is to use renewable sources, like electricity.  Then for example, how to heat up a space [using] district heating systems.  Companies then invest in new carbon neutral heating systems. Geothermal for instance is very popular in Finland.  We analyze the best options, and create an example for it, where needed.

“For construction materials production, we need to replace existing materials with more carbon neutral materials or those made with less energy. As I mentioned earlier, a circular economy reuses old, used materials. That may require new legislation, especially for load-bearing construction. So, how do we get that done?  What’s the strategy? What are the approval points, etc.?  We help develop these strategies.”

CN: Based on your experience doing what New York City is attempting to do, what are some recommendations for our multifamily buildings?

AA: “Put in the best. When renewing, upgrade to the best materials and equipment. That’s the easiest way in the long run. How do you produce energy?  Use clean energy sources. Invest in your wind production. Place solar panels on each building roof. Take the small steps—they accumulate.”

CN: Thanks so much for speaking with us today, Antti. It was both fascinating and helpful.

AA: Thanks for having me.

For more information, vis www.rt.fi/en or email antti.aaltonen@rt.fi