Green Building Council Finland and the World Green Building Council gathered a group of expert and influential organisations in Finland today to begin the important task of implementing a new EU policy on sustainable buildings.
Hosted by the GBC Finland, Stora Enso, a Regional Partner of WorldGBC’s Europe Regional Network, and WorldGBC, and held alongside the European Commission itself, the workshop looked at the new policy to be launched this summer which aims to provide a ‘common language´ and toolbox for sustainable building.
The policy is part of the EU’s ambition to help mainstream sustainable building and drive the region and building sector towards a circular economy. The policy will build on the success of existing sustainable building certification tools and introduce a limited number of key performance indicators, designed to become the foundation of a European approach to assessing sustainable buildings and to influence decision making in the building value chain.
The workshop was attended by Finland’s Ministry of Environment, Skanska, the City of Helsinki, Saint-Gobain, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and many other organisations. They each learned about the policy, its potential impacts on the Finnish market, and explored how it might be implemented in local conditions.
Feedback from the workshop will be integrated into plans being formulated by the European Commission.
Mikko Nousiainen, Managing Director of Green Building Council Finland, said:
“Common European practices and tools can help assess the sustainability of our built environment, and therefore we need robust action by companies, cities and governments. Finland was one of the first countries to take on this challenge – and the same good public-private collaboration and forward-looking mentality will be the key for finding the solutions.”
James Drinkwater, European Regional Director, World Green Building Council, said:
“The Green Building Council movement has done much to catalyse sustainable building practices across Europe, and this new policy represents an important recognition by the European Commission that we now need to ensure sustainability becomes mainstream. We are working with Green Building Councils and local leaders across Europe to support implementation of this central new policy, and it’s great to see organisations in Finland getting ahead of the curve!”
Petri Perttula, Head of Building Solutions at Stora Enso, added:
“Stora Enso believes that the common language will increase the adoption of green building solutions and materials such as cross laminated timber, that will help reduce life cycle environmental impacts such as fossil carbon emissions, whilst improving value to building users, owners, contractors and developers.”
