Svanenmärkning av småhus : Kan Faluhus uppnå en Svanencertifiering?

Sammanfattning: Eco certification of small houses To construct an environmental friendly building and show that as a company you care for the environment, is presently very attractive in the Swedish real estate market. This degree thesis covers the environmental certification called “Svanenmärkning” the Swan, witch is the Swedish equivalent to the European standard “the EU Flower”. It is concentrated on the certification process in small houses that the Swedish institute of standard, SIS, has presented. We have worked together with the company Faluhus witch is a Swedish producer of small family houses. Faluhus is located in the town of Borlänge, Dalarna and has produced family houses since the 1950:s. They have a great heritage born in the old Swedish mining culture, with great wooden mansions and country homes. Presently Faluhus produces some of the most energy effective buildings on the market. This constitutes a well adapted start for the certification process. The Swan is the official Nordic ecolabel, introduced by the Nordic Council of Ministers. The Swan logo demonstrates that a product is a good environmental choice. The Nordic countries work together using the Swan ecolabel. This work is coordinated by the Nordic Ecolabelling Board, NMN, which has produced a set of regulations. Groups of experts from the Nordic countries develop proposals for criteria. The group representatives come from government, environmental organisations, trade and industry. Before NMN finalises the proposals, they are sent out for review. Once a criteria document has been finalised, businesses can apply for the right to use the label on a product which falls into this category. The Swan checks that products fulfil the specific criterion using methods such as samples from independent laboratories, certificates and control visits. The label is usually valid for three years, after which the criteria are revised and the company must reapply for a licence. The criteria document for small houses is divided into 5 chapters. 1 Overall requirements for the licence applicant 2 Energy and ventilation 3 Material requirements 4 Quality management and control for the building process 5 Instructions for residents Every chapter contains a number of mandatory criteria and in some cases point rewarding requirements. The mandatory demands have to be fulfilled while 40 % of the point rewarding requirements must be met. All criteria are explained thoroughly and how the applying company should present that the demands are met. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate how Faluhus presently meet the criteria and what changes they have to do to receive “The Swan”. The work method that was used are mostly interviews with part of Faluhus, their suppliers and people in the Swan organisation. We also used the computer based search engines Sundahus and BASTA. The results are presented as conclusions were we have made an assessment of the degree that Faluhus fulfil the Swan demands. Criteria that are not met are presented with a suggestion on how Faluhus can improve and reach the requirement. The results show that presently more than half of the mandatory criteria are met and that 32 of the 40 points that can be rewarded are achieved. The segment where Faluhus doesn’t meet the criteria is chapter 4, quality management and control for the building process. The reason for this is that Faluhus presently doesn’t have a quality management program. This management program is under development and will be implemented shortly. 25 approved criteria, 5 should be attended to reach in the upcoming revision. 24 failed criteria 15 will be approved with a new quality management system, 8 smaller measures. The hardest criterion to attend is the primary colour which contains forbidden substances. Both we and Faluhus believe that they can achieve the Ecolabel “the Swan” within the following year and we wish them all the luck with their work.