Within Folkhem’s Cederhusen project, Stockholm’s first inner city district to be built in wood, a collaborative group of experts in various fields has been put together, with members from the industry organisation Swedish Wood, Folkhem/Veidekke Eiendom, Veidekke Entreprenad, Zynka BIM, Bjerking and Vertex Systems. The aim is to make serious advances in the development of quality assured and active climate work through every phase of a construction project by using a current, real-life project.
“We have high ambitions for this project on every front; and in terms of the climate impact, we want to find out how choices made early on in the process can cut emissions,” says Anna Ervast Öberg, head of project development for wooden buildings at Folkhem/Veidekke Eiendom, who continues: “It’s also about finding systems and methods that prepare us for the imminent legal requirement that buildings must come with a climate declaration, but it’s at least as important to gather correct climate data as a support for decision-making in our processes.”
“The wood industry has a huge role to play in the current green transition. Our job is to help our member companies develop their own knowledge and tools, and so help to educate the whole construction sector, and we want show what can be done in an actual project based on the tools and know-how we already have. Now the next stage of development is to focus on standardising data and systematising information,” comments Johan Fröbel, Head of Technology and Distribution at Swedish Wood.
Project manager Christer Green, from Swedish Wood and Christer Green Affärsutveckling, confirms that the timing is good, and highlights commercial benefit as a prime driver: “The time is now right for developers to begin placing requirements on suppliers and manufacturers. It creates an incentive for these parties to develop the right processes and tools. It’s about raising standards along the whole construction chain, so that as well as benefiting the climate we can develop a considerably more resource-efficient building process.”
Background
The Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning (Boverket) has put forward legislation requiring a climate declaration for buildings. This will come into force on 1 January 2022, making the developer responsible for producing a climate declaration for a finished building and submitting it to Boverket.
The proposal is for the legislation to apply to all new buildings and their structural elements, building envelope and internal walls.
Practical digitalisation based on existing tools and processes can show how industrial wood construction on a large scale enables faster development with less of a climate impact and lower costs.
Cooperation group
Folkhem takes a clear position on the issue of climate change and only builds in wood. Right from the start, Folkhem has always maintained a strategic focus on the environment, and the property developer is driven by an ambition to be a leader and innovator in sustainable building. Its project portfolio currently contains over 10 projects to provide a total of 1200 homes in Stockholm and Sundbyberg.
Folkhem Trä AB is marketed under the brand Folkhem and owned jointly by Veidekke Eiendom and Rikshem. www.folkhem.se
Veidekke Entreprenad AB (and Veidekke Eiendom AB) are part of Veidekke ASA, Scandinavia’s fourth largest construction, civil engineering and housing development company, with around 8600 employees. Veidekke ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and in 2019 had a turnover of approximately NOK 38.8 billion. www.veidekke.se/
Bjerking is Sweden’s oldest employee-owned technical consultancy firm. We cover every aspect of construction and civil engineering, and provide expert consultancy services in urban planning. We operate in the Stockholm region. www.bjerking.se
Vertex Systems’ CAD platform is a professional software solution that automates your architectural design and structural engineering processes. www.vertexcad.com
Zynka BIM specialises in delivering digital solutions and innovative processes for the construction and real estate industry, with a core vision to change the way we design, build and use our built environment. The company provides digital process management in every stage of a building’s life cycle, based on a digital twin. www.zynkabim.se
