RE:use
About 10% of the global carbon dioxide emissions come from materials used in construction of buildings. In new-builds, 15-30% of these emissions can be traced to technical installations, such as indoor climate solutions, and the share is often even greater in renovation projects. This means that reuse offers a significant potential to influence the path toward achieving global climate goals.
Our ambition at Swegon is to reuse our indoor climate products on an industrial scale. As renovated and quality-assured they get a new life on the market, with the same performance and warranty as new ones, but with a significantly lower climate footprint.
The challenge - technical products
Reuse of building materials has been around for ages and it has not been particularly complicated since it so far has involved reasonably simple items like doors, sinks and taps. To reuse technical installations, such as equipment for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), presents a tougher challenge. These products are complex and serve highly specific functions where they are installed. Furthermore, to reuse products for larger projects, whether new builds or renovations, they need to be available in sufficient quantities and at exactly the right time. This puts significant pressure on the logistics chain and requires substantial technical expertise to ensure proper functionality.
The potential of reuse
For practical reasons, it has been easier to install newly manufactured products when renovating buildings, but when doing so, the technical lifespan of our products may not be fully utilized. If the products, after dismantling, undergo cleaning, quality control and upgrading they can in many cases be ready to be installed again. And deliver full performance.
Shifting towards such circular approach offers tremendous potential for a reduced carbon footprint. For instance, for an air handling unit, the reduction reach up to 95%, and for products such as air diffusers, more than 90%.
The ambition for RE:use at Swegon
The full technical lifespan of our products often exceeds their actual time of use, as they are frequently replaced during refurbishments while they still have years of operational life remaining. If these products are dismantled, undergo quality checks, receive cleaning and upgrades with new key components, most of them can be reinstalled and continue to perform to a very high standard.
Our ambition for RE:use at Swegon is to streamline the reuse of technical installations – in our case, our indoor climate products – on an industrial scale. The goal is to fully utilise the products' lifespan by returning them to the market under conditions similar to those of a newly manufactured product, now with a significantly reduced carbon footprint.
RE:create
Cooperation is key to solve the practical challenges of reuse, from logistics to legal requirements, which need to adapt to new practices. This is why we are excited to have a number of well-known Swedish property owners join our RE:create community for circularity. The great potential of RE:create lies in the shared commitment to reduce embodied carbon in buildings.
RE:create is today an established collaboration among several partner in the Swedish market. As the interest in sustainability efforts continues to grow, we expect this partnership model to be adopted beyond Sweden as well. Stay tuned, more information is on the way!
