Julkaisun nimiRenovation Results of Finnish Single-Family Renovation Subsidies: Oil Boiler Replacement with Heat Pumps
KirjoittajatPaula Sankelo, Kaiser Ahmed, Alo Mikola, Jarek Kurnitski
JulkaisijaEnergies
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.3390/en15207620
Julkaisupäivä15.10.2022

Abstract

Finland has approximately 150,000 oil-heated private homes. In 2020, the Finnish government launched subsidies for private homeowner energy renovations. In this study, we examine the impact of two new energy renovation subsidies, the ELY grant and the ARA grant, from an energy efficiency point of view. Data from these subsidies reveal that a typical energy renovation case is a building from the 1970s where the oil boiler is replaced with an air-to-water heat pump. With additional data from the Finnish Energy certificate registry, a reference 1970s house is constructed and modelled in the building simulation programme, IDA ICE 4.8. Combinations of several renovation measures are simulated: air-to-water heat pump, ground-source heat pump, ventilation heat recovery and improved insulation. We found that resorting mainly to air-to-water heat pumps is not the most energy-effective solution. Ground-source heat pumps deliver a more significant reduction in delivered energy, especially with additional measures on insulation and heat recovery. Ground-source heat pumps also demand slightly less power than air-to-water heat pumps. Onsite solar PV generation helps supplement part of the power needed for heat pump solutions. Subsidy policies should emphasize deep renovation, ventilation heat recovery and onsite electricity generation.

Julkaisun nimiImpact of prospective residents’ dwelling requirements on preferences for house construction materials
KirjoittajatAnders Roos, Hans-Fredrik Hoen, Francisco X. Aguilar, Antti Haapala, Elias Hurmekoski, Jaakko Jussila, Katja Lähtinen, Cecilia Mark-Herbert, Tomas Nord, Ritva Toivonen, Anne Toppinen
JulkaisijaWood Material Science & Engineering
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1080/17480272.2022.2126947
Julkaisupäivä6.10.2022

Abstract

This study investigated people’s requirements for multi-story housing attributes and preferences for apartments in wooden-structure versus steel/concrete-structure multi-story buildings. Data came from an online survey conducted in Finland and Sweden that screened for respondents who expressed a preference for living in an apartment, as compared with a low-rise dwelling. Responses were analyzed using exploratory factor and regression analyses. Swedish respondents assigned significantly higher requirements to factors related to environmental and social sustainability performance than Finnish respondents. Requirements in both countries were described across three factors: environmental and social sustainability, quality, and design. Factor scores differed between socioeconomic sub-groups, particularly regarding quality, between urban and non-urban respondents. Preferences to live in an apartment in a wooden building were positively associated with respondents’ requirements for environmental and social sustainability, and negatively with requirements for quality-related attributes. Opposite relationships were found in the Swedish sample for apartments in non-wooden structure houses. Design requirements had no significant association with preferences for a specific material in load-bearing structures for multi-story buildings, in either country. The findings can contribute toward enhanced marketing efforts and customized value propositions to increase the social acceptability of multi-story wooden buildings and advance climate-related goals within the housing sector.

Julkaisun nimiConsumers’ Consciousness for Sustainable Consumption and Their Perceptions of Wooden Building Product Quality
KirjoittajatCharlotta Harju, Katja Lähtinen
JulkaisijaForest Products Journal
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.13073/FPJ-D-22-00014
Julkaisupäivä11.7.2022

Abstract

Wood products are seen globally as an important solution to substitute nonrenewable materials in the construction sector to enhance the life cycle sustainability of buildings. Globally, the most prominent opportunities for sustainability change in housing production lie in multistory residential buildings, which are built mainly of concrete, steel, and bricks. The possibilities of achieving multiple benefits from the use of wood in multistory residential buildings have gained interest among scholars, especially in the 2000s. However, the research has been dominated by views of production (especially construction processes), while scientific knowledge of consumption (especially the occupational phase of buildings) remains very limited. Information about how consumers with differing views of sustainable consumption evaluate the quality of wooden building materials particularly is scarce. This study aimed to investigate consumer perceptions of wooden building product quality and examine how the perceptions connect with consumers’ consciousness for sustainable consumption (CSC). The research data were gathered in 2018 by a postal survey sent to 1,000 people living in Finland (response rate 25.6%) and analyzed with exploratory factor analysis and the Mann-Whitney U test. According to the results, respondents’ views of wooden building product quality indicators can be grouped into three factors: technical advantages, environmental sustainability of materials, and social benefits at home. The strength of CSC was found to be linked with respondents’ views of wooden building product quality. The results of consumers’ CSC views help actors involved in the wood and construction industries better meet consumer expectations both for different aspects of sustainability and for lifestyles.

Julkaisun nimiCo-developing sustainability – a consumer-inclusive approach to wooden housing business in Finland
KirjoittajatEliisa Kylkilahti, Minna Autio, Viktor Harvio, Ulrika Holmberg, Anne Toppinen
JulkaisijaHousing Studies
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2022.2114592
Julkaisupäivä9.9.2022

Abstract

The housing construction industry can address sustainability issues by developing its business practices. This requires a shift from a firm-driven business logic to a consumer-inclusive approach where consumers and businesses together enhance sustainable development. By analyzing data from focus group discussions with both industry experts in the wooden multi-storey construction business and consumers residing in novel wooden buildings, this study examines how businesses can engage consumers in the development of sustainable housing. The results are presented as an iterative dialogue process that acknowledges consumers as important actors to whom innovative housing solutions should be appropriately introduced and whose lived experiences need to be understood. The findings indicate that consumer experiences can feed the creation and uptake of innovations that enhance sustainability in the construction sector. The study fosters the material aspect of sustainable housing and, by highlighting consumer participation and communication, proposes tools for its consumer-inclusive co-development.

Julkaisun nimiDynamic heating control measured and simulated effects on power reduction, energy and indoor air temperature in an old apartment building with district heating.
KirjoittajatHatef Hajian, Kaiser Ahmed, Jarek Kurnitski
JulkaisijaEnergy and Buildings
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.14214/sf.10609 
Julkaisupäivä13.05.2022

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of the dynamic heating control on power reduction and indoor air temperature in a typical Finnish block of apartments built in 1981. The building operated in 2018 with conventional and in 2020 with dynamic heating control. The onsite measured data was collected from both periods. Measured data enabled calibrating the whole building simulation models with an accuracy better than 10%. A new dynamic heating curve control algorithm was developed so that outdoor air compensated supply temperature was reduced during high use of Domestic Hot Water (DHW) by applying DHW compensation differential. If the indoor air temperature in any apartment dropped below the limit, supply temperature uplift was applied. The dynamic heating control resulted in 8.9% space heating and 13.7% total heating power reduction while had practically no effect on energy use. On the contrary, dynamic heating control slightly increased indoor temperature fluctuations, but both control systems resulted in a similar value of hours below the setpoint temperature of 21 °C. The results demonstrate that heating power reduction without compromising indoor air temperature is possible with applied supply temperature drop during DHW peaks and preheating afterwards.

Julkaisun nimiCitizen beliefs concerning wood as a construction material under extreme weather events.
KirjoittajatVehola, A., Hurmekoski, E., Lähtinen, K., Ruokamo, E., Roos, A., Toivonen, R. & Toppinen, A.
JulkaisijaCanadian Journal of Forest Research
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2022-0108
Julkaisupäivä27.07.2022

Abstract

Climate change places great pressure on the construction sector to decrease its greenhouse gas emissions and to create solutions that perform well in changing weather conditions. Our study explores citizen perceptions on wood usage as a building material under expected mitigation and adaptation measures aimed at a changing climate and extreme weather events. The data are founded on an internet-based survey material collected from a consumer panel from Finland and Sweden during May–June 2021, with a total of 2015 responses. By employing exploratory factor analysis, we identified similar belief structures for the two countries, consisting of both positive and negative views on wood construction. In linear regression models for predicting these beliefs, the perceived seriousness of climate change was found to increase positive views on wood construction but was insignificant for negative views. Both in Finland and Sweden, higher familiarity with wooden multistory construction was found to connect with more positive views on the potential of wood in building, e.g., due to carbon storage and material properties. Our findings underline the potential of wood material use as one avenue of climate change adaptation in the built environment. Future research should study how citizens’ concerns for extreme weather events affect their future material preferences in their everyday living environments, also beyond the Nordic region.

Julkaisun nimiWooden multi-storey construction market development – systematic literature review within a global scope with insights on the Nordic region
KirjoittajatJaakko Jussila, Emil Nagy, Katja Lähtinen, Elias Hurmekoski, Liina Häyrinen, Cecilia Mark-Herbert, Anders Roos, Ritva Toivonen, Anne Toppinen
JulkaisijaSilva Fennica
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.14214/sf.10609 
Julkaisupäivä20.01.2022

Tiivistelmä

Puun käyttö kerrostalorakentamisessa on noussut mielenkiintoiseksi vaihtoehdoksi kaupunkiympäristössä, sillä puu toimii rakennuksissa pitkäaikaisena hiilivarastona. Tutkimuskatsauksemme keskittyi kokoamaan yhteen puukerrostalorakentamisen markkinoiden kasvun keskeisiä esteitä ja mahdollistavia tekijöitä, tunnistamaan alan keskeisiä toimijoita sekä käytettyjä tutkimusmenetelmiä. Synteesi muodostui vuosien 2000–2020 aikana ilmestyneistä vajaasta 700 artikkelista Web of Science ja Scopus-tietokannoissa, joista 42 artikkelia valikoitui lopulliseen sisältöanalyysiin. Tulosten mukaan puukerrostalorakentamisen yleistymistä tukee erityisesti teollisen esivalmistuksen mahdollistama kustannustehokkuus sekä erityisesti kuluttajien ja arkkitehtien näkemykset puumateriaalien eduista kestävän kehityksen näkökulmasta. Olemassa olevaa tutkimusta hallitsevat tapaustutkimukset, laadullisten aineistojen käyttö ja maantieteellinen keskittyminen Pohjoismaihin.

Abstract

Climate change sets high pressures on the construction industry to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Due to the carbon storage properties and potential to use renewable resources efficiently, wooden multi-storey construction (WMC) is an interesting alternative for the construction industry to enhance sustainable development combined with the aesthetic and well-being benefits of wood perceived among many consumers. For forest industry firms, industrial wood construction is a possibility to seek for business opportunities and bring socio-economic benefits for local economies. Despite positive drivers, WMC still remains a niche even in the forest-rich countries.The purpose of our study is to add understanding on the WMC market development by conducting a systematic literature analysis on international peer-reviewed studies from the past 20 years. Our special focus is on the role of WMC in the housing markets studied from the perspectives of the demand, supply and local governance factors. As specific aims, we 1) synthesize the key barriers and enabling factors for the WMC market growth; 2) identify the actors addressed in the existing studies connected to the WMC market development, and 3) summarize research methods and analytical approaches used in the previous studies. As a systematic method to make literature searches in Web of Science and Scopus for years 2000–2020, we employed PRISMA guidelines. By using pre-determined keywords, our searches resulted in a sample of 696 articles, of which 42 full articles were after selection procedure included in-depth content analysis. Our results showed cost-efficiency gains from industrialized prefabrication and perceived sustainability benefits by consumers and architects enabled a WMC market diffusion. The lack of experiences on the WMC, and path dependencies to use concrete and steel continue to be key barriers for increased WMC. Although our research scope was the global WMC market development, most of the literature concerned the Nordic region. The key actors covered in the literature were businesses (e.g., contractors, manufacturers and architects) involved in the wood construction value-chains, while residents and actors in the local governance were seldomly addressed. Currently, case studies, the use of qualitative data sets and focus on the Nordic region dominate the literature. This hinders the generalizability of findings in different regional contexts. In the future, more research is needed on how sustainability-driven wood construction value-chains are successfully shaping up in different geographical regions, and how they could challenge the dominant concrete-based construction regime.

Julkaisun nimiThe impact of the technical requirements of the renovation grant on the ventilation and indoor air quality in apartment buildings.
KirjoittajatAlo Mikola, Anti Hamburg, Kalle Kuusk, Targo Kalamees, Hendrik Voll, Jarek Kurnitski
JulkaisijaBuilding and environment
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.108698
Julkaisupäivä15.2.2022

Abstract

In this study, the impact of ventilation requirements set in the conditions of a renovation grant was analysed with field measurements. Effects of renovation measures applied in two grant periods on the air change rate (ACR) and indoor air quality (IAQ) of apartments were examined. CO2 levels and airflow rates were measured in 21 buildings during the first renovation grant period and in 15 buildings in the second grant period. During the first grant period, the average ACR studied apartments was as low as 0.17 h1, and in the second grant period ACR had improved to 0.57 h1, complying with requirements. Room-based ventilation requirements as well as heat recovery and preheating of intake air, mandatory airflow rate and sound pressure level measurement protocols, and third party inspection of design documentation assured adequate ventilation and IAQ in the second grant period. Centralized mechanical supply and exhaust ventilation with heat recovery resulted in best performance but an alternative system with exhaust heat pump and ventilation radiators may also be recommended. We concluded, that the installation of proper ventilation system is a key issue in renovation. The results of the study are a valuable input in designing technical conditions of the renovation grant.


Julkaisun nimiThe effect of information nudges on energy saving: Observations from a randomized field experiment in Finland.
KirjoittajatEnni Ruokamo, Teemu Meriläinen, Santtu Karhinen, Jouni Räihä, Päivi Suur-Uski, Leila Timonen, Rauli Svento
JulkaisijaEnergy Policy
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112731
JulkaisupäiväFebruary 2021

Tiivistelmä

Pienentääkö energianeuvonta sähkönkulutusta? Havaintoja Suomessa toteutetusta satunnaiskokeilusta.

Kokeilut ympäri maailmaa ovat osoittaneet, että tiedolla tuuppaaminen (engl. information nudging) voi auttaa kotitalouksia pienentämään sähkönkulutustaan. Toisaalta vaikutuksissa on havaittavissa eroja maiden välillä ja myös neuvonnan sisältö tai toimitustapa voivat vaikuttaa tuuppauksen tehokkuuteen. Tässä tutkimuksessa arvioidaan energianeuvonnan ja sosiaalisen normin vaikutuksia kotitalouksien sähkönkulutukseen Suomessa. Näiden tuuppausten vaikuttavuutta tutkitaan satunnaiskokeilulla, jossa tutkittavat kotitaloudet jaetaan satunnaisesti tuupattaviin ja verrokkiryhmiin. Tuuppauksien toteutuksessa käytetään kuukausittaisia energiansäästövinkkejä sisältäviä sähköpostiuutiskirjeitä ja sähkönkulutuksen seuraamiseen tarkoitettua verkkopalvelua. Tulosten perusteella energiansäästöön kannustava neuvonta toimii sähkönkulutuksen seurannasta lähtökohtaisesti enemmän kiinnostuneiden (eli verkkopalvelua käyttävien) kotitalouksien joukossa. Talvikuukausina nämä kotitaloudet vähentävät sähkönkulutustaan keskimäärin 10 % neuvonnan seurauksena. Lisäksi tulokset paljastavat, että vertaisvertailut yhdistettynä monipuoliseen energianeuvontaan voivat kannustaa kotitalouksia vähentämään sähkönkulutustaan. Toisaalta energianeuvonnalla ei havaita vaikuttavuutta niiden kotitalouksien joukossa, jotka eivät käytä sähkönkulutuksen seurantaan tarkoitettua verkkopalvelua.

Abstract

Field experiments have shown that information nudging can help households to save energy, however, the effectiveness varies depending on aspects such as information content, delivery mode and study area. This article evaluates the impacts of information nudges on residential electricity consumption with a randomized field experiment. This opt-in experiment was conducted in Finland. Information was administered via monthly email newsletters and an online energy service platform. The aim is to find out whether i) energy saving tips combined with and without online energy service platform providing electricity consumption information, and ii) peer comparisons (i.e., social norm) influence households’ electricity consumption. The results show a high seasonal variation in the treatment effects within the groups who were registered users of the online energy service platform. Those with access to usage feedback and versatile energy savings tips (without the social norm comparisons) reduced their electricity consumption around 10% in wintertime. The results imply challenges in encouraging energy saving behavior among households less interested in following their electricity consumption.

Julkaisun nimiPerceptions of wooden interior product quality – insights on sustainability views among Finnish consumers
KirjoittajatCharlotta Harju, Katja Lähtinen
JulkaisijaSilva Fennica
ISBN/DOIhttps://doi.org/10.14214/sf.10605
Julkaisupäivä21.12.2021

Tiivistelmä

Toistaiseksi on ollut hyvin niukasti tietoa siitä, miten kuluttajat arvostavat puutuotteiden laatuominaisuuksia ja mikä on erilaisten kestävyysnäkökulmien rooli tuotteen laadun arvioimisessa. Tämä tutkimus tuo lisää tietoa suomalaisten kuluttajien näkemyksistä liittyen puisten sisustustuotteiden laatuominaisuuksiin sekä niiden suhteesta ekologiseen, sosiaaliseen ja taloudelliseen kestävyyteen. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa mitataan kuluttajien sosiodemografisen taustan yhteyttä eri laatuominaisuuksien arvostamiseen. Tulosten perusteella kuluttajien laatuominaisuuksiin liittyvät näkemykset voidaan jakaa neljään teemaan: ympäristöystävällisyyteen, sopivuuteen elämäntavan ja sisustuksen kanssa, tuotteiden visuaaliseen ja pintaominaisuuksien miellyttävyyteen sekä tekniseen laatuun, jotka liittyvät monin tavoin eri kestävyysnäkökulmiin. Lisäksi kuluttajien tausta ja tietopohja ovat yhteydessä siihen, miten kuluttajat arvioivat puutuotteen laatuun ja vastuullisuuteen liittyviä ominaisuuksia.

Abstract

Evaluation of product attributes and the overall quality significantly affect consumer purchasing decisions. Previous studies on wooden products have mostly addressed wood product quality from technical viewpoints, while largely disregarding environmental, social, and economic aspects in the assessments. Therefore, knowledge on how sustainability aspects are evaluated as a feature of wood product quality is narrow. This study investigated consumer perceptions of different quality indicators (i.e., quality cues and attributes) of wooden interior products with a special focus on sustainability and value chain phases. In addition, the connections between consumers’ sociodemographic background and their perceptions of the quality features of wooden interior products were evaluated. The material of the study was based on data gathered in 2018 with a postal survey sent to 1000 people living in Finland with a response rate of 25.6%. As methods of analysis, exploratory factor analysis, the Mann-Whitney U test, and the Kruskall-Wallis test were utilized. The results show that the quality indicators of wooden interior products can be grouped into four factors relating to products’ environmental friendliness, fit with lifestyle and home design, visual and tactile attractiveness, and technical solidity, which are in multiple ways connected with sustainability. The sociodemographic background of the respondents was found to be linked with consumer scores for those factors. Engaging consumers in sustainable consumption choices requires providing them with information on wooden product value chains that meets their individual needs in relation to their existing knowledge of those issues and individual values.