To facilitate decarbonization in the EU’s building sector, the regulatory focus is shifting towards a life cycle perspective of emissions. The EU’s path in tackling embodied emissions is under development in the revision of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which is utilizing Level(s) framework and EN 15879 as a methodological foundation. Member States are at different stages in their building life cycle regulation plan and Finland is preparing normative regulations to limit the carbon footprints of new buildings. We conducted a survey on how the different actors in the construction sector perceive new low-carbon policies under development in Finland. Our findings indicate that carbon footprint policies were generally seen as functional. However, perceptions differed significantly depending on the respondent’s organization type. The respondents involved in the construction design stage generally seemed more positive about the proposed regulations, whereas advocates (associations and interest groups) were more cautious than the organizations they represented. These findings help clarify the implementation and development needs of low-carbon policies.
https://decarbonhome.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DecarbonHome_light.png00Niina Pykäläinenhttps://decarbonhome.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DecarbonHome_light.pngNiina Pykäläinen2023-10-17 12:00:002023-11-07 14:18:07Räihä, J., Clarke, S., Sankelo, P., Ruokamo, E., & Kangas, H.-L. (2024). The importance of organization type: Construction sector perceptions of low-carbon policies and measures.
Land-use planning has been identified as an important tool in pursuing sustainability by guiding the construction and development of our built environment. Sustainability action places large requirements for municipalities to develop and introduce priorities in their planning. Land-use planning system in Finland relate to regulation and decisions of authorities connected to national, regional, and municipal levels. In general, municipal level has the most power in decision making by holding e.g., planning monopolies. Municipal land-use planners operate in the junction of different actors including businesses, local politicians, citizens, and research institutions. Thus, they provide an interesting opportunity to study the operationalization and objectives of land-use planning in different regions. This study takes the regional innovation system approach to illustrate planning systems, involvement of different stakeholders and the sustainability objectives of land-use planning in varying regions in Finland. Quantitative methods (i.e., exploratory factor analysis, statistical tests) are used in the online survey data analysis. Our results suggest a strong connection between informal planning system and municipalities’ sustainability objectives as well as stakeholders representing research and governance organizations whereas statutory planning system is more connected with users of existing knowledge. Regarding regional characteristics, urban municipality planners were found to perceive informal planning as more important than planners in other municipalities. Additionally, connected to the results on sustainability objectives, urban municipality planners paid attention especially on goals for sustainable building, while those working in other municipalities emphasized both goals on sustainable building and securing ecosystem services.
Tiivistelmä
Maankäytön suunnittelulla on tärkeä rooli kestävän rakentamisen ja asumisen mahdollistamisessa. Onnistuneet kaavoitusratkaisut edistävät hyvinvointia, aluetaloutta ja kestävää kehitystä rakennetussa ympäristössä. Tutkimuksessamme selvitimme lakisääteisten ja epämuodollisten maankäytön suunnitteluprosessien sekä eri sidosryhmien rooleja suomalaisten kuntien maankäytön suunnittelussa ja näiden suhteita kuntien ekologisen kestävyyden tavoitteiden kanssa. Tutkimme myös näiden osa-alueiden eroja kaupunkimaisten ja muiden kuntien välillä. Tuloksemme osoittavat merkittäviä yhteyksiä epämuodollisten maankäytön suunnitteluprosessien, uuden tiedon tuottamisen, sekä kuntien kestävyystavoitteiden välillä. Lakisääteisten maankäytön suunnittelumekanismien kohdalla ei tuloksistamme samankaltaisia yhteyksiä noussut esille. Lisäksi havaitsimme, että kaupunkimaisten ja maaseutumaisempien kuntien välillä on eroja näissä maankäytön suunnittelun kannalta tärkeissä osa-alueissa.
https://decarbonhome.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DecarbonHome_light.png00Niina Pykäläinenhttps://decarbonhome.fi/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DecarbonHome_light.pngNiina Pykäläinen2023-05-17 11:16:442023-05-17 11:16:45Koskivaara, A. & Lähtinen, K. (2023). Land-use Planning in Municipalities as a Driver for Sustainable Residential Building in Finland: A Regional Innovation System Approach.
