// Energy consumption

Reduced energy consumption by 8.6 per cent

Kolo Veidekke has reduced the energy consumption – which includes electricity and fossil energy from fuel oil, propane and natural gas – by 8.6 per cent from 2007 to 2008. This corresponds to a reduction in CO₂ emissions from 21.0 to 19.2 kg per tonne of asphalt. The production in 2008 was practically on a level with the previous year.

The result is fairly close to the goal of a 10 per cent reduction in 2009. The positive development can, among other things, be ascribed to new plants using propane and natural gas. Plants which convert from diesel to propane, reduce their CO₂ emissions by nearly 17 per cent, whereas plants which start using natural gas, achieve a reduction of an impressive 40 per cent. However, the positive result for 2008 was most likely helped by the dry and warm weather along the coast last summer, which meant that less energy was needed to remove excess moisture from the aggregate. This effect might be reversed in 2009, therefore it is still important to continue working with the measures mentioned above.

More climate-smart than required by current regulations

Part of our environmental efforts is having definite opinions on the authorities' environmental requirements for the building and construction industry. In Sweden, we have joined a dialogue project known as the Building-Living Dialogue – a unique cooperation between the private business sector, municipalities, national and local authorities and the government. The purpose of this project is to encourage the players in the business sector to voluntarily become more climate-smart than today's rules and regulations require. The project's goal is to establish a sustainable building and construction industry before 2025, within the following three areas; health and indoor environment, efficient energy consumption and effective use of resources. We will participate actively in this project in times ahead.

Last year, Veidekke Bostad signed the Stockholm Climate Pact, a cooperative venture challenging the city's business community to work actively with climate issues. All companies which sign this agreement, commit to working towards a 10 per cent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the period 2007-2010, and have to report on the status of these efforts annually to the city of Stockholm. Our Swedish operations will also support the building industry as it suggests tougher environmental requirements than those specified in the national guideline programme for sustainable building (e.g. regarding energy consumption and noise levels in buildings). In this context, a minimum level of sustainability will be defined, and this will serve as a guide for the companies in the industry, and as a national guideline for municipalities wanting to set requirements for its building projects.

Energy consumption must be reduced

The building and construction industry is responsible for considerable energy consumption, related to processes such as heating and drying during the building period. In 2008, Veidekke had an energy consumption in Norway of 250 GWh. The breakdown into energy sources was 19 per cent gas, 61 per cent oil and 20 per cent electricity. The numbers are based on purchases from our main suppliers.

The stricter energy standards under the 2007 Planning and Building Act will be introduced gradually up until 1 August 2009. We are now constructing two large commercial buildings in Trondheim and Kongsberg in accordance with the new regulations. In close cooperation with our customers, we have achieved excellent results in these projects, delivering buildings which more than satisfy the new, strict energy requirements. Conventional office buildings have, up to now, had an energy consumption of 250-300 kWh per square metre per year. The requirement in the new standard is 165 kWh, and we are aiming at 150 kWh in the Trondheim project. In order to reach this goal, we are focusing on issues such as reducing air leakage from the building shell, using extra insulation and casting concrete on site, as well as building glass courtyards and complying with passive house requirements to reduce the need for cooling and heating.

Veidekke Entreprenør has participated in a research project with the Norwegian Building Research Institute regarding thermal bridges. The project was concluded in 2008. The purpose of the project was to identify the need for ways to reduce the number of thermal bridges in buildings, and the result is a "thermal bridge atlas" on which the most well-known problems are shown and indicated by tabulated thermal bridge values. Veidekke is also part of another research project with the Norwegian Building Research Institute dealing with simplified systems for waterborne heat.

Reduced consumption through the TellHus concept

TellHus is a concept for climate-smart housing developed by Veidekke's Swedish operations. Simple solutions make it possible to reduce the total CO₂ emission by approx. 1.5 tonnes per flat per year, compared with flats in ordinary new buildings. The basic idea behind TellHus is to reduce the electricity consumption in the flats through a few simple measures:

• The insulation on the walls is increased by 5-6 cm compared with current insulation.
• Heating is provided by environment-friendly district heating (including underfloor heating in the bathroom).
• Super-insulating glass is used in the windows.
• Deliveries are steered towards low-energy white goods, low-energy lamps and energy-efficient heat recovery ventilation systems.
• All flats have a display showing how much electricity and hot water the flat is using in real time and how much this consumption costs.
• The standby function on electrical goods can be switched off.

These measures add up to significant energy savings but have no dramatic impact on the building process or cost of materials. We estimate approximately the same margins for a TellHus project as for our ordinary housing projects.

Considerably lower CO₂ emissions

Although a TellHus building has marginally higher heating requirements than a passive house (where the walls are up to twice as thick), it is responsible for the emission of significantly less CO₂. This is because TellHus buildings are based on the use of environment-friendly district heating and less polluting electricity such as that produced by coal power plants. The building process is also environmentally acceptable. The portakabins which every building site has to have, are a good example if this, as they are heated by environment-friendly district heating. Moreover, "green" electricity is used for machines on the building site in order to stimulate the market for this type of energy even though this does not have a direct impact on CO₂ emissions.

Several municipalities in Sweden have shown interest in this way of building, and Veidekke is planning to put the first TellHus flats up for sale in Stockholm during spring 2009. The TellHus concept has now been extended to include office buildings and renovation of older buildings.