Stora Enso, due to its constant efforts to promote sustainable building, has always been in great demand. The Group claims that the number of people living in cities around the world is increasing. By 2050, sixty-eight percent of the world’s population is predicted to live in urban regions, up from fifty-five percent in 2018. Developers, architects, construction firms, and investors now have a plethora of options to construct the infrastructure required to accommodate the urban population expansion. The environmental effects of this impending infrastructure boom, however, are a major concern.
Nearly 40% of global energy-related carbon emissions are attributed to the built environment, according to the World Green Building Council. People are living longer at the same time; the first individual to survive to be 150 was probably born already. In addition to housing, those individuals need more healthcare facilities, and their increasingly digital lifestyles call for more digital infrastructure. Our shared resources are under an equal amount of strain as a result of this threefold effect. Thus, we must make sure that urbanization occurs in a more sustainable manner, which entails designing or modifying structures to be as carbon-efficient as feasible.
It is possible to make progress toward more sustainable urban areas, but more funding is needed. How can the industry attract investors accustomed to traditional building materials like concrete to more modern and environmentally friendly construction methods?
Underload of information
Lack of knowledge makes it difficult to determine whether an investment will be the more sustainable choice and how much of an impact it can have. This is one of the main obstacles to making more environmentally conscious decisions. According to a 2023 BNP Paribas survey of investors, which included asset owners and private equity firms, more than 70% of respondents cited “inconsistent and incomplete” data as the biggest barrier to making investments under social, governance, and environmental objectives.
In the past, the building industry has not had access to that data due to the challenge of determining the carbon footprint of various materials and techniques. The embedded carbon emissions, which account for both raw materials and the manufacturing process, are especially difficult to quantify. With new legislative frameworks to encourage and direct that reporting, together with instruments to give reliable evaluations of environmental effects, that is starting to change.
Implementing guidelines
France, Denmark, and the Netherlands are among the nations that have led the charge to regulate operational and embodied carbon, resulting in advancements at the EU level. A key motivator since May 2024 has been the EU’s updated Energy Performance of Buildings Directive in two important aspects. The first is that the directive emphasises an energy-efficient upgrade for older structures.
The directive’s consideration of embodied carbon is its second significant component, which is crucial given that half of all structures that will exist in 2050 have not yet been constructed. According to the directive, EU member states must begin calculating and disclosing building emissions for big new buildings in 2028 and for all new buildings starting in 2030. Member nations must impose restrictions on building emissions by 2030 as well. By taking these actions, the bloc and beyond will be able to better monitor the environmental effects of building projects. However, having to report embodied emissions without the resources to do so is pointless. A carbon calculator is useful in this situation.
Calculating the carbon cost
Accurately evaluating risk and potential reward is one of the obstacles to investing. The advantages of adopting sustainable materials over conventional ones in building are quite easy to quantify. Mass timber was used to replace conventional concrete in Stora Enso’s recently completed head office in Helsinki, which resulted in a 35% reduction in CO2 emissions before usage. However, what about emissions that are embodied? To put it another way, what is the upfront impact of emissions that we must comprehend to make wise investment choices?
Carbon calculators, like the one provided by Stora Enso, can be used by architects, developers, construction companies, and other interested project stakeholders to comprehend the emissions related to the entire supply chain, including the production of goods and their transportation to a construction site. In order to learn more about the environmental impact of reuse and recycling scenarios, stakeholders should also look for Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), which Stora Enso uses to inform the carbon calculator. This contributes to the comprehensive illustration of the advantages that sustainable building methods may offer.
Certain renewable materials have additional advantages that can further reduce CO₂, which is typically associated with the built environment. For instance, bulk timber. Wood is the only structural material that stores CO₂ in the market, in addition to having minimal manufacturing carbon emissions. 6,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide are contained in the timber components of Stora Enso’s head office, and they are meant to stay there for at least a century. Because of this, mass wood gives structures a sustainability surplus and guarantees that investments in assets made of this material will contribute to a major reduction in carbon emissions.
A low-carbon growth agenda
Whether they are homes, hospitals, or data centers, the world needs more structures to handle the trends of urbanisation, aging, and digitalisation. Stora Enso can now monitor the overall environmental effects of mass timber buildings and show how they might promote sustainable economic growth. This is a significant step toward keeping up the momentum in sustainable building and obtaining the funding required to transform its built environment going forward.
More content is available here: WOODWORD
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