Tough environmental goals require innovation and collaboration

Climate neutrality 2045 requires innovation

The first of Peab’s three comprehensive environmental goals is to be climate neutral by 2045 (including Scope 1, 2 and 3). In 2020 one of our sub-​goals was to halve greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 2030. As of 2021 we have honed the sub-goal and expanded it to include purchased products and services (Scope 3), read more.

Peab also stands behind the industry’s Road map for fossil free competitiveness. The production chain in the construction industry generates a great deal of carbon dioxide emissions in the world. In Peab’s own operations most of the carbon dioxide emissions are generated by fossil used in transportation vehicles and construction equipment, heating workplaces and manufacturing products. The material and products we choose, how we manage waste and how we transport goods are examples of activities where the environmental impact is outside of our own operations but where the decisions we make have a huge effect. We therefore want to take responsibility for reducing climate impact throughout the entire value chain and based on a life cycle perspective as well as look for innovative ways to run our business. We work on energy conserving measures and phasing out and replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy. For instance, in Sweden several quarries are going through the process of electrification.

Innovative ECO-products offer customers sustainable alternatives

For years Peab has worked on developing our own ECO-products. The first one was ECO-Asfalt, which we continue to develop. Climate neutral bio­fuel is used for drying and heating the gravel material in manufacturing Peab’s ECO-Asfalt, which is the process that requires the most energy. After the acquisition of YIT’s paving operations our subsidiary Peab Asfalt has a total of 70 stationary and 20 mobile plants in the Nordic region. So far one mobile and 21 fixed plants have converted to biofuel in Sweden. At the end of 2020 ECO-Asfalt represented more than 95 percent of Peab’s total production at stationary plants in Sweden. In 2020 the carbon dioxide savings was 41,000 tons (41,000), which is equal to approximately 31,500 cars, each driving 1,300 Swedish miles (100 g CO₂ equiv./km). We are currently mapping, analyzing and planning the launch of ECO-Asfalt in our other Nordic countries.

Another important step is recycling asphalt where there is considerable potential to increase the amount of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) in new production. The portion in Peab’s Nordic asphalt production in 2020 was 22 percent (compared to 14 percent 2015). The properties of the asphalt also have an impact on the environment. Peab Asfalt in Denmark was commissioned by the Danish Road Directorate to pave a stretch of road with a climate friendly wearing course. Lowering rolling resistance reduces fuel consumption in the vehicles traversing the stretch of road without impairing friction.

In ECO-Betong part of the cement is replaced with slag, a by-product in steel manufacturing. This reduces both carbon dioxide emissions from manufacturing and saves the extraction of virgin limestone. Depending on how it is utilized the concrete’s climate impact can be cut by up to 50 percent. In addition, ECO-Betong has a longer lifetime. An example is the ETC Bygg apartment project in Västerås, where carbon dioxide emissions were reduced 45 percent by choosing ECO-Betong instead of traditional concrete. ECO-Betong is also easier to handle when wet and the result is denser with less porosity and longer durability.

Resource efficiency requires greater circularity

Peab’s second environmental goal is to be completely resource efficient by 2040. The construction and civil engineering industry generates large amounts of waste. Building usually means claiming land, which can entail affecting ecosystems and biodiversity. Resource consumption is also a climate aspect, since producing material has a substantial climate impact. Our measures entail, for example, designing resource lean constructions, effective purchasing procedures, work methods that minimize waste, managing excavated soil effectively as well as reusing products and sorting material so that it can be recycled. We strive to utilize land responsibly in order to shield biodiversity and the local ecosystem.

Collaboration for reuse and waste management

Developing more resource efficient methods requires collaboration within the entire industry in order to form new, efficient solutions. Peab operates based on the industry’s resource and waste guidelines for building and demolishing and EU’s waste hierarchy. In addition to good sorting at the source circular loops need receivers of material. Peab therefore strives to strengthen collaboration with waste contractors and suppliers. In Sweden, for instance, we have added standardized specifications concerning recycling of residue from floor installations in our purchasing templates. In 2020 we also extended our collaboration with the waste contractors we have framework contracts with, focusing on recycling and reusing material to reduce the amount of waste sent to incineration or landfills and unsorted waste. We have increased material recycling alternatives in contracts and established more defined goals with more frequent follow-ups. Another example of circular material flows is our collaboration with an insulation supplier where residue can be returned to the supplier to become raw material in production.

To develop more resource efficient methods the entire industry has to work together so that new, efficient solutions can be created.

Recycling and C&D Recycling Wash Plant under our own roof enables reuse

Through electrification in production plants for recycling excavated soil, so-called C&D Recycling Wash Plants, Peab’s subsidiary Swerock contributes to circular material flows by efficiently recycling surplus excavated soil. With this new technique the amount of surplus excavated soil from excavations and infrastructure projects that becomes landfill is reduced by 80 percent. In the summer of 2020 Swerock opened its second C&D Recycling Wash Plant.

Innovative design saves both the environment and money

How we design what we build can have a major impact on the environment and costs. One example is the construction of E6 in Trondheim, where optimized construction and a slight sideways shift of the road led to a significant reduction in excavation, transported mineral aggregates, asphalt and water and drainage installations.

Protecting biodiversity

Operations in business area Industry run, among other things, quarries that encroach on nature. Properly managed, however, they can give protection and life to species that otherwise get displaced. Normally before Peab opens a quarry we make a natural value assessment in order to determine with the help of experts if the location is suitable. In Sweden Peab has decided to draw up biodiversity plans in connection with new quarry permits in order to identify the best way to protect various species, and sometimes even add to the biodiversity. Other parts of Peab also contribute to biodiversity, for example by developing green infrastructure with fauna passageways where mice or frogs can safely pass, and fish passes at power stations to create unhindered passageways. Biodiversity is also a factor considered in environmental certification of buildings, for example Swan ecolabeling.

Phasing out environmental and health hazardous products is challenging

Peab’s third environmental goal is to phase out environmentally and health hazardous products by 2030. We want to protect people and the environment from exposure to toxic substances in both production and usage.  We also want to avoid mixing in toxic substances in material that will be reused several times. Therefore phasing out environmentally and health hazardous products is a prerequisite for circular material flows and achieving our goals of resource efficiency and climate neutrality. Peab’s ambition is to work together with colleagues in our industry to find new alternatives that can replace chemical substances, products and materials that can have a hazardous effect. Examples of products we have already phased out are hydraulic oil, coolant and wax that contains candidate substances – i.e. substances that are on EU’s list of particularly toxic substances.

Requirements and criteria for reducing risks and increasing traceability

We are sharpening the tools in our purchasing system in order to systematically steer purchasing towards selecting products that are better for the environment. For instance, we have integrated information concerning environmental assessments and ecolabeling of products into one of our purchasing systems. We strive to ensure that the products used in our projects meet Byggvarubedömningen’s acceptance level on content or BASTA’s criteria, which means that the products cannot contain environmentally and health hazardous substances or only in very small quantities. Keeping a logbook on built-in material is one way of ensuring traceability. Traceability is crucial to future identification of substances we currently use but which may later prove to have negative effects on people or animals.

Environmental certification of buildings in the Nordic region

Buildings have a major impact on our environment, in production and in use. A third party assessed environmental certification provides us with a quality-ensured framework that creates comparability when it comes to how environmentally friendly a building is. Peab takes responsibility for the environmental impact of our own housing development by having Peab Bostad’s newly produced apartment buildings in Sweden and Norway certified according to the Swan ecolabel and our own developed commercial buildings in Sweden along with some in Norway certified according to BREEAM. In Finland Peab’s property development business has become specialized in LEED certified office buildings. Peab’s construction business in Sweden has a service license to build Swan ecolabeled buildings, which makes the certification process for us and our customers more efficient. In order to meet legal requirements and our customers’ growing focus on the climate, Peab has created an efficient work method for producing climate calculations for construction projects.

Peab needs everyone’s knowledge to reach our environmental goals

Peab has set tough environmental goals and we have a long way yet to go. Every employee’s efforts play a part. A couple of years ago we therefore began increasing knowledge about the environment and teaching our employees about how they can contribute to achieving our environmental goals.