Sustainable Construction Industry Just Getting Started
On Thursday, 10 December, IÐAN and the Iceland Green Building Council hosted the third and final streamed meeting of the year in the series on sustainability in the construction industry.
Our guests this time were Sandra Rán Ásgrímsdóttir, a sustainability engineer at Mannvit, and Árni Stefánsson, the CEO of Húsasmiðjan. The meeting was broadcast live but is now available here on the website and on IÐAN's YouTube channel.
“We are one of the greenest companies in the country,” Árni asserted at the meeting. Blómaval is part of the group and presumably plays a key role in that assertion. Almost all timber is environmentally certified and transported directly from the dock to the timber yard, just 100 metres away. Árni also discussed several projects to which Húsasmiðjan has supplied products, including the new town centre in Selfoss, which will be the first Nordic Swan Ecolabelled community in Iceland.
Climate impact can be reduced by 60%
Sandra Rán encouraged the use of certification systems, saying they can serve as excellent checklists even if a builder is not necessarily seeking the certification itself. Sandra also touched on a few points compiled by Ramboll, an engineering firm in Denmark, noting that if these points were addressed, it would be possible to reduce the climate impact of the construction sector by up to 60%.
It should be noted that the sustainability stream is far from over. IÐAN Education Centre, in collaboration with the Iceland Green Building Council, will continue with these lectures after the New Year, as participation has exceeded all expectations. Dates will be announced soon.
Previous morning meetings
- Icelanders should live in sustainable houses
Finnur Sveinsson and Gísli Sigmundsson
- Back to the past, but in the spirit of the present
ÞG Verk and Byko
