Over 40 enthusiastic Nordic building value chain companies came together for the kick-off session of the Nordic Circularity Piloting Program on February 13, 2025 to discuss the current state and future of circularity in technical building equipment. The session highlighted both the dire need for circular, low carbon solutions, and the great opportunities for future innovation and collaboration in the field.
The Nordic Circularity Piloting Program launched on February 13th with the first of four value chain sessions, starting off with a look at the current state of circularity in technical building solutions. The 20-month long program brings together Nordic building sector companies to explore and test circularity in technical building solutions, starting with seminar and matchmaking sessions in spring 2025 and continuing to piloting in fall 2025. The program organization together with participants will collect learnings and policy recommendations based on the pilots in spring 2026.
This first session featured expert presentations outlining how Nordic countries are progressing in circularity overall, key challenges and opportunities in pushing for circularity in technical building solutions, and practical examples from industry leaders in the field.
A long way to go for circularity - bold and collaborative action is key
Marika Määttä, Head of Combient Pure and Melissa Kanerva, Business Design Manager Circularity from Combient Pure set the scene for the day, highlighting that technical building equipment makes up the third largest emission source in the lifecycle of a building, after energy and main construction materials. With energy decarbonizing fast in the Nordics, the role of circularity in building products will only increase in importance if the sector wants to keep driving down lifecycle emissions.
For a big picture look at circular economy, Sofia Sundström, Circular Transition Officer from Cradlenet, shared the latest figures on how materials are circulating in the economy overall. With the global economy at 7.2% circular (and decreasing year on year!), and the Nordic construction industry lagging behind even the global figure, there is a clear need to accelerate progress on circularity. Encouragingly, Nordic companies seem very ambitious when it comes to embedding circularity into company strategies and expect it to also bring competitive value. Cradlenet’s recommendations for the planned pilots mirrored this ambition, encouraging actors to be bold and aim for regenerative, service-based business models rather than working with e.g. incrementally more recycled materials.
Inspirational and practical examples of how circularity can be implemented in technical building solutions were presented by Ulla Janson, Senior Lecturer in Installation and Air Conditioning Engineering at Lund University. While challenges are plentiful, including the presence of hazardous materials in the products, or difficulties in dismantling existing installations, emerging solutions highlight the imaginative rethinking that can enable circularity. The presentation showcased modular systems, reusable components, product-as-a-service business models and changes in installation methods that are already reality and can pave the way for more scalable circular solutions.
Vasakronan and Swegon show the way for the Swedish building sector with circular pilots
To round out the morning presentations, Malin Belfrage, Senior Project Manager at Vasakronan, and Mikael Börjesson, Director Sustainability and External Relation and Caroline Jacobsson, Key Account Manager at Swegon, shared how their companies have been piloting circularity.
As Sweden’s largest commercial property owner, Vasakronan has an ambitious goal to reach 100% circular material use by 2030. This goal makes sense not only from a sustainability perspective, but also brings tangible financial benefits in the form of e.g. higher property values and favorable interest rates. The company’s Lumi project in Uppsala was highlighted as one example of the significant material reuse and carbon savings possible with circular practices - the construction project was able to repurpose approximately 80% of the original building’s materials.
A significant portion (17-40%) of the embodied carbon of an office building can come from HVAC systems. This was highlighted by Swegon, an indoor climate solution provider, where the focus has traditionally been on energy efficiency. This focus is expanding to product embodied carbon through the company’s RE3 initiative. The Reduce, Revitalise and Reuse approach includes using alternative materials, refurbishing products, and reusing components to lower environmental impacts. Swegon has already run pilots, for example building a fully functioning air handling unit entirely of wood. These pilots are important learning milestones for the company and its partners.
Both Vasakronan and Swegon emphasized the importance of collaboration across the industry to achieve circularity goals. Both are actively seeking partnerships and pilot projects to advance their circularity initiatives and explore new business models - right in line with the goals of the Nordic Circularity Piloting Program.
Next step: widen your network and find the right partners!
The afternoon continued with company pitches and speed dating sessions to find the best matches for potential pilots. Overall, the day was an energizing start to the Piloting Program and the good buzz in the room set the tone for the spring - to ambitiously drive circularity forward in the Nordics through industry cooperation.
The program will continue in March with the second Value chain session focusing on designing circular solutions in the value chain, this time in Espoo, Finland. A matchmaking session (onsite only) will follow the hybrid morning presentations. Join us in Finland by signing up here, and mark your calendars for sessions coming up in Oslo (April 10th) and Copenhagen (May 15th)!
For more information on the Nordic Circularity Piloting Program, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at melissa.kanerva@combient.com.