Five tips for saving energy and water in a housing company: “33 per cent of households’ emissions come from living”
At the Innovative Energy Efficiency Solutions in Housing Companies event real estate management company Fluxio Oy’s CEO Kalle Grönqvist shared good practical tips that have helped create significant savings in properties managed by the company. The event, organised by WWF Finland, Sitra, Motiva and Kiinteistöliitto Uusimaa, started active conversations on topics related to energy efficiency.
The Innovative Energy Efficiency Solutions in Housing Companies event brought together a packed room of housing company representatives, invited by Kiinteistöliitto Uusimaa to Sitra’s offices in Ruoholahti, Helsinki, on October 11. The event was organised by Kiinteistöliitto and Sitra together with WWF Finland and Motiva.
The introductory speakers at the event were Kiinteistöliitto Uusimaa’s executive manager Mika Heikkilä, WWF Finland’s development manager Leena Oiva, Sitra’s specialist Lotta Toivonen and Motiva’s specialist Harri Heinaro.
“By improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings and implementing low-carbon solutions in new construction, Finland’s energy consumption can be reduced by 21–33 per cent by the year 2050”, Oiva summarised.
Toivonen, on the other hand, explained that “33 per cent of Finnish households’ emissions come from living”.
Fluxio Isännöinti, which manages 65 housing companies in the capital region, is carrying out the Savings in Housing Companies project with Sitra. At the event, Fluxio Isännöinti’s CEO Kalle Grönqvist shared good practical tips for saving energy in housing companies.
“In a housing company in Lauttasaari, Helsinki, water-saving showerheads and tap aereators were installed in June. After a couple of months’ monitoring, the drop in consumption has been 10–20 per cent”, Grönqvist said.
“You can also save water by lowering the pressure. Lowering the pressure by 1–2 bars lowers consumption by 5–15 per cent. Other benefits include reduced wear and tear on plumbing and reduced noise levels.”
Grönqvist also cited radiator system maintenance and monitoring and evening temperatures as excellent energy saving measures.
“We examined the radiators of five housing companies, and they were in bad shape. There were big temperature differences between the flats, and it was too warm in the public spaces. The heat saving potential of radiator system maintenance is about 10 per cent”, Grönqvist explained.
Tips for saving water and energy in a housing company by Kalle Grönqvist from Fluxio Oy:
- Monitoring and evening temperatures
- Installing water-saving shower heads
- Installing tap aereators
- Lowering water pressure
- Radiator system maintenance
The presentation by Pertti Vesterinen, the president of the board of Asunto Oy Tampereen Pohjolankatu 18–20, was very inspiring. Vesterinen told, for example, that the housing company had reduced its heating carbon dioxide emissions by a whole 96 per cent between the years 2010 and 2018.
<cms artikkelikuva 11527 /> Vesterinen cited several examples of the measures carried out in the housing company, partly with funding from the EU-GUGLE project. These included, for example, the recovery of heat from exhaust air, replacing heat exchangers, installing solar collectors, improving garages’ heat insulation, installing constant pressure valves into taps and remote monitoring.
“Considerable savings can be achieved just by reducing energy consumption and with energy-saving renovations”, Vesterinen summed up.
Other speakers at the event included Kiinteistöliitto’s leading specialist Petri Pylsy , who spoke on charging electric cars in housing companies, and Petteri Huuska and Marja Vuorinen from the city of Helsinki, who spoke on the mySMARTLife project, which seeks innovative urban energy solutions.
See all the presentations from the Innovative Energy Efficiency Solutions in Housing Companies event here.
