We promote testing opportunities of innovative circular economy solutions, especially in the field of construction by working together with the end users, city employees and companies. If your company works in construction, demolition or building design, we invite you to work with us to improve circular economy in Helsinki.
Helsinki to pioneer circular economy facilitation
The City of Helsinki’s circular economy cluster program aims to both promote circular economy innovations and business as well as also help the city further its climate goals. Companies, research institutes, universities as well as all other organisations interested in developing circular economy with concrete actions are invited to participate in the program.
Since the City of Helsinki has a strong role both as a client as well as a real estate developer and constructor in its own right, the circular economy cluster program will initially focus on improving circularity in the construction industry. The management and utilisation of material flows, for instance, requires multidisciplinary development as well as coordinated cooperation between different actors. Digital solutions and platform services have also important roles in advancing circular economy and new businesses based on it.
Join the cluster?
A large proportion of construction companies operate in the Helsinki metropolitan area or at least in the wider metropolitan area. As the material flows in the area are vast and the different functions are located quite close to each other, material transportation costs remain reasonable. Moreover, a significant number of companies and organisations who develop and provide new circular economy solutions are based in the area. If there is one place in Finland where the re-using, recycling and processing of recovered materials has the potential to develop into a profitable business, surely that place is the metropolitan area.
The first development measures in action
Participants of the circular economy cluster program are working together to improve the reuse and availability of building materials and building components.
One of the first measures was developing the concept and operating model for a platform ecosystem of material flows using the Vattuniemi pilot site. The pilot project will look at how circular construction economy is affected by anticipation of the demolition surveys and then make use of the learnings to develop a platform ecosystem of material flows aimed at directing both demolition companies as well as the re-users of rescued materials towards more circular construction.
The circular economy cluster program has also organised an innovation challenge focusing on the reuse of demolished insulation wool, discussions about alternative concrete products, a circular economy camp for architects and other planning professionals as well as the Closing Loops design competition for architecture and civil engineering students. Ongoing activities include experiments and reports about evaluating the technical feasibility of reused building parts, for example.
