Styrdokument för kontorsbyggnation ur ett ekologiskt hållbarhetsperspektiv : Aspekter och argument

Sammanfattning: The construction and real estate industry represents a significant part of Sweden's total impact on the environment and mainly affects the following national environmental objectives: reduced climate impact, a good built environment and a non-toxic environment. By establishing internal rules, companies within the industry can reduce their environmental impact. SMT (AB Sandvik Materials Technology), a part of the industrial group Sandvik AB, has set a target that during 2014 develop a guiding document with special consider to the environmental impact during construction of office buildings, that they establish at the Swedish regional capital Sandviken, for both internal and external tenants. This study therefore aims to clarify which environmental aspects that the construction and real estate sector mainly are responsible for, and therefore should be part of a guiding document for a company for establishing office buildings, and to present arguments regarding the use of such a document. The study is based on literature studies and personal contact with other companies, in the form of e-mail conversations and a telephone interview. The results of the study have revealed that companies have guiding documents describing their overall environmental work, but there are currently no documented standardized procedures for establishing buildings from the ecological sustainability perspective. A guiding document should originate from the Brundtland Commission's definition of sustainable development that states: "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Sustainable development include three dimensions; ecological, economic and social sustainability, which depend on and influence each other. All together, the study showed that the primary environmental aspects that a guiding document for a company at least should take in consideration, based on the ecological sustainability, are: energy consumption, waste production, greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen oxide emissions. Suggestions for companies regarding the practical work with these environmental aspects are to focus on BREEAM and to use available product databases such as BASTA, SundaHus and Byggvarubedömningen as complementary tools. Arguments for the use of such a document is that an active environmental program can be used for marketing purposes, potentially provides reduced business costs, reach more customers through new business areas and create and maintain an attractive position due to the growing environmental awareness in the community.