On 2 May, Akademiska Hus, together with the City of Gothenburg and nearly 40 public and private property owners, signed a letter of intent on circular construction. It will lay the foundation for establishing a developed market for reuse in Gothenburg at a rapid pace and on a large scale. The initiative is led by Business Region Gothenburg.
The real estate and construction sector accounts for about a fifth of Sweden's climate impact and about a third of the total waste in Sweden. At the same time, a vanishingly small part of the building and interior design materials that are demolished or replaced are recycled.
The city and the real estate industry in Gothenburg now want to significantly increase the pace of change, which is completely in line with Akademiska Hus' sustainability work. In order to achieve our new climate goal – climate neutral throughout the value chain by 2035, it is a matter of course that we explore new ways to make use of our buildings' resources and materials, and think second hand first.
"This is a very positive initiative in Gothenburg, where we property owners together with the city collaborate on issues of sustainable solutions for more circular material flows. It is also completely in line with our ongoing climate work," says Sofie Bårdén, strategic property developer at Akademiska Hus.
The letter of intent contains a wide range of promises that must be implemented by 2024, including sharing experiences and good examples, developing skills, setting requirements and setting own goals for reuse. The aim is to establish a well-developed reuse market by 2025, with more intermediate warehouses for recycled materials, new players and far more products and services for circular construction than exist today.
Several initiatives are underway
Akademiska Hus also participates in the Vinnova-funded initiative CCBuild, the Centre for Circular Construction, which is a national collaboration arena and works for increased reuse and more circular material flows in the construction sector. The project is run through IVL, the Swedish Environmental Research Institute, with a strong focus on increased collaboration on the issue for the entire construction and real estate sector.
