First in Finland: BREEAM Outstanding environmental certificate awarded to We Land office construction in Helsinki

Never before was a BREEAM certificate awarded for the design phase at level Outstanding in Finland. We Land office building was the first to achieve this in Finland.

NCC has over ten years’ experience of using BREEAM as a standard process and way of working in property development projects. The highest ratings require engaging a multi-disciplinary team who are familiar with the hundreds of details that the certificate covers. Sustainable solutions are created on the designers’ workdesks, and applying for the higher rating governs nearly all contents of the project.

Certification to level Outstanding as per the international BREEAM environmental rating is achieved by the effect of many sustainable solutions, including the plot and its location, traffic connections, services and the rest of the built environment. The design accounts for energy supply in 2030, the building’s material efficiency, life cycle, carbon footprints, building service technology, space modifiability and employee satisfaction.

A practical example of sustainability is the building’s façade which is built from recycled and still recyclable copper. The building will be topped out by a green roof, a roof garden and solar panels. All parking spaces for cars will be equipped with charging plugs, so will part of the bicycle parking spaces.

Building to be certified after completion

The office building will be completed in 2024. The building is designed with restaurants which are open to all, such as the panoramic restaurant on the fourteenth floor. After completion, the BREEAM Outstanding certificate will be applied for the entire building in addition to the design phase certification.

 – We Land is the forefront of sustainable construction. Not often do you come across BREEAM environmental rating and its level Outstanding even on the international scale, but its value is all the greater, Senior Property Developer Heikki Alén of NCC says.

Read more about We Land: welandruoholahti.fi

BREEAM basics  

• BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is originally a British classification system which is based on All-European standards.
• BREEAM encourages sustainable and responsible construction on account of a point-awarding system which allows assessing the buildings’ environmental impacts.
• Based on the criteria the buildings are divided into five categories: Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent and Outstanding.
• Behind the BREEAM certification stands the BRE Group which consists of researchers, scientists, engineers and technical experts.
• BRE is a profit-making organisation that invests their profits in public-interest research projects or refurbishment of their own research facilities.

BREEAM is a registered trademark of BRE (the Building Research Establishment Ltd. Community Trade Mark E5778551). The BREEAM marks, logos and symbols are the Copyright of BRE and are reproduced by permission.