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Green Building Council's (Grænni byggð) annual reports and board meeting minutes. Operations and documentation Green Building Council Iceland's bylaws can be found here . Mynd: Ástrós Steingrímsdóttir Annual and financial reports, work plans (in Icelandic) 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 Annual report Annual report Annual report Annual report Annual report Annual report Annual report Annual report Annual report Annual report Annual report Annual report Annual report Annual report Annual report Annual report Financial report Financial report Financial report Financial report Financial report Financial report Financial report Financial report Financial report Financial report Financial report Financial report Financial report Financial report Financial report Financial report Annual meeting Annual meeting Annual meeting Annual meeting Annual meeting Annual meeting Annual meeting Annual meeting Annual meeting Annual meeting Annual meeting Annual meeting Annual meeting Annual meeting Annual meeting Founding meeting Work plan Work plan Work plan Board meeting minutes (in Icelandic) 2022 01/2022 02/2022 03/2022 04/2022 - 01 | 04/2022 - 02 05/2022 - 01 | 05/2022 - 02 06/2022 09/2022 10/2022 11/2022 12/2022 2023 01/2023 02/2023 03/2023 04/2023 05/2023 - 01 | 05/2023 - 02 08/2023 09/2023 10/2023 12/2023 2024 01/2024 02/2024 03/2024 04/2024 05/2024 06/2024 2025 02/2025 03/2025 05/2025 06/2025 08/2025 11/2025 08/2024 09/2024 10/2024 11/2024 2018 08/2018 09/2018 -01 | 09/2018 - 02 10/2018 11/2018 12/2018 2019 01/2019 02/2019 03/2019 05/2019 2020 01/2020 02/2020 03/2020 04/2020 05/2020 06/2020 08/2020 10/2020 11/2020 2021 01/2021 02/2021 03/2021 04/2021 05/2021 06/2021 - 01 | 06/2021 - 02 08/2021 10/2021 11/2021 12/2021 Other documents → Review of the updated action plan of the City of Reykjavík regarding climate matters (28/01/2021). Document in Icelandic. → Review of the updated climate action plan (01/10/2020). Document in Icelandic. → Comment on the climate-related action plan (01/10/2020). Document in Icelandic. → Comments to the housing matters group on social sustainability and environmental priorities (10/01/2019). Document in Icelandic. → Comment on a meeting with Minister of Transport and Local Government Sigurður Inga Jóhannsson (11/2018). Document in Icelandic. → Comment on incentives to increase the number of green buildings. Document in Icelandic. → Icelandic summary of the World GBC Report on Bringing Embodied Carbon Upfront (2020). Document in Icelandic. → The draft target plan of the Board . Document in Icelandic.

Members The following companies, organizations and individuals are members of Green Building Council Iceland. Mynd: Ástrós Steingrímsdóttir 1st Category BM Vallá Eik fasteignafélag Húsnæðis- og mannvirkjastofnun Reitir fasteignafélag Verkís verkfræðistofa 2nd Category Búseti Efla Hafnarfjörður Isavia ohf. Heimar Reykjavíkurborg 3rd Category Alta ráðgjöf Alverk Arkís Ask arkitektar BYKO Basalt COWI Eignaumsjón Húsasmiðjan HJARK Hulda Jóns arkitektúr Hornsteinar HNIT Artelia Group Iðan Fræðslusetur ÍAV Íslenskir Aðalverktakar Íslandsbanki Jáverk Klasi Langeldur Lota Landsvirkjun Landslag Landmótun Pago Stika solutions Steinull Steypustöðin T.ark Teiknistofan Tark ehf. Teiknistofan Tröð THG arkitektar VSB verkfræðistofa Vegagerðin Umhverfis- og orkustofnun Verkvist VA Arkitektar Vista Verkfræðistofa VSÓ Ráðgjöf exa nordic Staðlaráð Íslands Íslenskir staðlar Örugg verkfræðistofa 4th Category Arnhildur Pálmadóttir architect and owner of sap arkitektar Anna María Bogadóttir , architect and owner of URBANISTAN Finnur Sveinsson , Visthús Hildur Ýr Ottósdóttir, Ydda arkitektar Sigríður Maack , architect, arctic space Anna Sigríður Jóhannsdóttir , architect Heimir Hermannsson , CEO, GigOver Bryndís Ósk Jökla Björnsdóttir , MPM Stefanía Sigfúsdóttir , architect at Atrium arkitektar

We work to create a healthy, sustainable built environment that promotes well-being for all. More about us can be found here. We are currently working on editing our website. We apologize for any inconvenience that this causes. Grænni Byggð members Join us By becoming a member you: - get discounts at events; - you become a role model; - your company takes an active responsibility in environmental matters; - you can increase your knowledge about environmental issues; - you get opportunities for networking; - you support professional work and discussions on environmental issues in construction and planning; - your company can be an active participant in Green Building Council Iceland's projects, professional groups and events; - your company can influence the work and strategy of Green Building Council Iceland. Thank you for submitting! Senda Publications Emission-free construction sites C&D Waste Certification systems Other publications

2025 2024 2023 2022 Græna Skóflan The Green Shovel is an award for buildings that have been built with outstanding environmental and sustainable values. Information about the award itself and the award winners can be found here. Græna Skóflan - The Green Shovel The Green Shovel Award The Green Shovel Award was awarded for the first time on Green Building Day 2022. It is a recognition of a structure that has been built with an excellent ecological and sustainable focus. The award has its roots in action 6.9. in the Roadmap to Green Building Construction 2030 (6.9. í Vegvísi að vistvænni mannvirkjagerð 2030 - in Icelandic): About the Award In winter 2021, a competition took place among the students of the Iceland University of the Arts (Listaháskóli Íslands) to design the trophy. Hekla Dís Pálsdóttir won that competition, and the trophy was based on her design. In 2022, the trophy was made of Icelandic graystone. Arngrímur Guðmundsson was in charge of preparing working drawings, Steinsmiðjan was in charge of cutting the graystone, and Stálnaust did the water-cutting. The Green Shovel for Renovations In fall 2025, a call for nominations for a new award called The Green Shovel for Renovations was sent out for the first time. The Green Shovel for Renovation is a recognition for buildings that have been renovated with an excellent ecological and sustainable focus, to promote the renovation of existing structures. Renovation projects that have truly demonstrated an environmentally friendly impact upon completion will receive higher weight. 2025 Nominations for The Green Shovel were open from early August to early September. This year, nominations were received for numerous outstanding projects that required careful and detailed review by the jury. The jury was composed of the board of GBCI, and the awards were presented on GBCI day on October 8th. One of the main focuses of the jury this year was that the project demonstrated clear innovation, how it is possible to step beyond traditional solutions and thus shed light on what is possible when creative thinking and implementation go hand in hand. The holders of both awards, The Green Shovel and The Green Shovel for Renovation, are strong examples that can serve as encouragement and inspiration for other future projects. The Green Shovel 2025 The jury's conclusion states about the building: The project demonstrated that even within the current regulatory and legal environment, it is easy to reduce the carbon footprint and reuse various building materials in parallel with universal design principles in a successful way. Compared to a comparable building, Háteigsvegur's carbon footprint is 50 percent lower. Háteigsvegur emphasizes accessibility for all, cost-effectiveness, the use of high-quality and healthy materials, as well as creating a homely environment. The building that received The Green Shovel for 2025 is Háteigsvegur 59. Háteigsvegur 59 is owned by Félagsbústaðir. The following parties were involved in design and execution: →Architect/Head designer: Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, s. ap arkitektar →Fire safety: Örugg verkfræðistofa →Structural design: HANNA verk verkfræðistofa →Utilities design: Varmboði →Electrical installation design: Verkhönnun →Project owner: Félagsbústaðir →Inspection: VSB verkfræðistofa →: Vinahús ehf. → LCA and LCC: VSÓ Ráðgjöf Project partners in material development and reuse are BM Vallá , Gluggagerðin , SSJ Steinsmiðja/ Grafa og grjót , Egill Árnason/Junckers parkett and Húsasmiðjan . More on H59 The Green Shovel for Renovations 2025 The jury's conclusion states about the building: Menningarleg og söguleg þýðing þessa mannvirkis sameinast framtíðarsýn, þegar horft er til umhverfislegra þátta sjálfbærnis og má þá nefna atriði eins og að endurnýta eins mörg byggingarefni og hluti og hægt er en núverandi burðavirki er frá 1957, hanna bygginguna þannig að auðvelt sé að taka hana niður, velja heilnæm og endurvinnanleg efni og einnig að hugsa um að draga úr orkufari í allri notkun byggingarinnar. Mannvirkið se m hlaut Grænu skófluna fyrir endurbætur árið 2025 er Stöng í Þjórsárdal. Stöng er í eigu Minjastofnunar Að hönnun og framkvæmd stóðu eftirtaldir aðilar: →Arkitekt/Aðalhönnuður: SP(R)INT STUDIO →Burðarþolshönnun: VSB Verkfræðistofa →Landslagshönnun: SP(R)INT STUDIO →Verkkaupi: Minjastofnun →Framkvæmd endurbóta : Langeldur →Umsjón framkvæmdar : FSRE Meira um Stöng 2024 Opið var fyrir tilnefningar mannvirkja til Grænu Skóflunnar frá maí og fram í miðjan ágúst. Í ár voru mörg afburðagóð verkefni tilnefnd og krafðist mikillar gaumgæfni dómnefndar. Það gefur góða tilfinningu að sjá natni hönnuða, framkvæmdaraðila og verkkaupa aukast með hverju árinu að þessu leyti. Dómnefnd var skipuð stjórn Grænni byggðar, og voru verðlaunin veitt á Degi Grænni byggðar þann 25. september. Vistvæn mannvirkjagerð er margbrotin og að mörgu að hyggja. Áhersla á lækkun kolefnisspors byggingar var í ákveðnum forgangi hjá dómnefnd, en einnig var tekið mikið tillit til samfélagslegra áhrifa mannvirkisins. Í niðurstöðu dómnefndar segir um mannvirkið: Mannvirkið ber með sér vandaða hönnun og samræmingu allra sem að verkinu koma. Hún gefur sterka tilfinningu fyrir mannlegum skala og næmni gagnvart notandanum. Vellíðan notandans er hér í fyrirrúmi auk þess sem efnisval og meðhöndlun þess er unnin á forsendum umhverfisins og arkitektónískrar fagurfræði. Byggingin er vottuð af Svaninum - Norræna umhverfismerkinu sem einnig er hvatning til annarra hönnuða að nýta sér, til aukinnar vistvæni. Niðurstaðan var einhlít þó svo að mjótt væri á munum Mannvirkið se m hlaut Grænu skófluna árið 2024 er Urriðaból - leikskóli í Garðabæ Urriðaból er í eigu Garðabæjar. Að hönnun og framkvæmd stóðu eftirtaldir aðilar: →Arkitekt/Aðalhönnuður: HJARK → Arkitekt: Sastudio →Burðarþolshönnun: Exa nordic →Lagnahönnun: Teknik →Raflagnahönnun: Lota →Hljóðvistarhönnun: Myrra →Landslagshönnun: Teiknistofa Norðurlands →Verkkaupi: Garðabær →Verktaki: Þarfaþing →Eftirlit: Strendingur → Aðalverktaki: Eykt ehf. Hönnunargögn og lýsing 2023 Opið var fyrir tilnefningar mannvirkja til Grænu Skóflunnar frá því í lok apríl til 15. ágúst. Mörg framúrskarandi verkefni voru tilnefnd í ár, og voru mannvirkin fjölbreytt, allt frá stórum stofnunum til tilraunakenndra smáhýsa. Dómnefnd var skipuð stjórn Grænni byggðar, og voru verðlaunin veitt á Degi Grænni byggðar í lok september. Í niðurstöðu dómnefndar segir um mannvirkið: Þessi bygging bar af. Allt frá upphafi markaðist hönnun mannvirkisins af sjálfbærni, hvort sem litið er til framkvæmda- eða rekstrartíma. Áhersla var lögð á efnisval, innivist, orkumál og góða umhverfisstjórnun. Lífsferilsgreiningar og líftímakostnaðargreiningar voru notaðar við ákvarðanatöku í hönnun. Dagsbirtugreiningar voru framkvæmdar ásamt hljóðvistagreiningum. Sem dæmi má nefna að hljóðverkfræðingur skoðaði sérstaklega kröfur um hljóðvist fyrir notendur með sérstakar heyrnar- og samskiptaþarfir. Segja má að einstakur metnaður hafi verið lagður í að tryggja vellíðan vistmanna samhliða því að draga úr neikvæðum umhverfisáhrifum byggingarinnar. Það var mikill samrómur innan dómnefndar og ég held að við séum sammála um að hér sé á ferðinni verkefni sem sýnir: • Framúrskarandi hönnun • Fer lengra en að uppfylla bara skilyrði • Setur ný viðmið fyrir aðbúnað hjúkrunarheimila með vistvænum áherslum • Tryggir samfélagslega sjálfbærni Mannvirkið se m hlaut Grænu skófluna árið 2023 er Móberg - hjúkrunarheimili í Árborg. Móberg er í eigu Sveitarfélagsins Árborg og Heilbrigðisráðu neytisins, og er rekið af HSU. Að hönnun og framkvæmd stóðu eftirtaldir aðilar: → Umsjón hönnunar og framkvæmda: FSRE → Arkitektar: Urban arkitektar ehf. og Loop Architects (DK) → Verkfræðihönnun: Verkfræðistofa Reykjavíkur ehf. → Rafkerfahönnun: Liska ehf. → Ljósvistarhönnun: Liska ehf. → Brunahönnun: Mannvit hf. → Landslag: Hornsteinar arkitektar ehf. → Hljóðhönnun: Brekke Strand (NO) → BREEAM: EFLA hf. → Algild hönnun og ráðgjöf: Harpa Cilia Ingólfsdóttir → Aðalverktaki: Eykt ehf. Hönnunargögn og lýsing 2022 Early this summer, the nominations for the award were opened. Numerous nominations were received from various sources across the country, and the nominations spanned a very wide range of civil engineering, from smaller bridge projects, single-family houses and extensions, to large-scale service facilities and apartment buildings. After a review by a jury, which, this time, was made up of the board of Green Building Council Iceland, one structure was chosen to receive the prize. The jury felt this project stood out quite a bit in many areas. What the jury's verdict said about the structure: During the preparation of the structure, care has been taken in setting goals for the project, both in terms of the social activities that the structure accommodates and the specifications that should be included in its design. When solving the design, a life cycle analysis (LCA) was used for the structure as a whole, which supports the credibility that the building is environmentally friendly and prevents greenwashing. A comparison of the environmental impact of building materials was also made, and the designers' choice of materials was based on its results, which shapes the building's overall and natural appearance. The construction instructions and the project's goals were reflected in the contractor's work and the owner's follow-up with BREEAM certification of design and construction will confirm how the project's sustainability goals will be achieved. The project was a renovation of an older building, where every effort was made to make the best use of the existing concrete structure. This ensured that the construction process was easier than otherwise and prevented the unnecessary production and transportation of new building materials. As such, the building is a worthy model for future reconstructions of older structures. The structure that received the Green Shovel in 2022 is the Brákarborg preschool in Reykjavík at Kleppsvegi 150-152. Brákarborg is owned by the City of Reykjavík . The following parties were responsible for the design and implementation: → Arkís arkitektar ehf. ; → Efla hf. supervised the life cycle analyses (LCA); → Arkamon ehf. was in charge of structural design; → Teknik verkfræðistofa ehf. designed the piping; → Liska ehf. designed the electrical system and lighting; → Kanon arkitektar ehf. were in charge of landscape design; → fire design was in the hand of Mannvit hf. ; → the contractor was Þarfaþing hf. ; → BREEAM certification was under the supervision of Verkís hf. Design data and description

About Green Building Council Iceland. Members Join GBCI Green Building Council Iceland The Green Building Council Iceland (GBCI) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) established in 2010 to encourage sustainable construction by inspiring and empowering people to work for the common goal of creating a healthy, sustainable built environment that promotes well-being for all. Mynd: Ástrós Steingrímsdóttir We realise our mission on multiple fronts by: - promoting environmental awareness and green action planning for the building and infrastructure sector; - lobbying authorities to pass legislation that will direct the market in a more sustainable direction; - educating, connecting, and motivating stakeholders involved in the urban planning and building sector. As one of over 70 members of the World Green Building Council, we share the goal of catalysing the uptake of sustainable built environments with the Green Building Councils' network. The main areas of our focus are: - decarbonisation of the built environment; - supporting resources regeneration by promoting circular economy principles in the construction sector; - encouraging a built environment that delivers healthy, resilient, and sustainable constructions. Currently, our organisation has arouhnd 60 members working towards their goal of making the building sector an active player in creating a more sustainable future and a healthier society. Our members Summary of our activities in three main areas: INFORMING → We produce and publish diverse educational materials. → We participate in various research and development projects. → We organise and participate in educational events, panel discussions, and public meetings on sustainable construction. ENCOURAGING → We encourage market players to contribute and show social responsibility in action. → We encourage the public sector to reward projects that meet certain environmental requirements with economic incentives. → We promote the circular economy to be used as a guiding principle in the design, construction, and operation of buildings. CONNECTING → We bring together people from all over the community with the goal of sustainability in the local environment. → We actively cooperate with our sister organisations, especially in the Nordic countries, through projects and events. Join GBCI

Green Building Council's (Grænni byggð) events in 2023. Newsletters GBCI publishes a monthly newsletter. Here you can find links for newsletters that GBCI has published in the last 12 months. Mynd: Ástrós Steingrímsdóttir February 2026 In this newsletter: Past events 👏 Festa's january conference. Upcoming events 📅 ÍST EN ISO 14001:2026 New publications 📖 EU Construction Platform To think about 💡 BREEAM awards „How to get circular in 2026" Networking groups 🤝 January 2026 GBCI Day August 2025 April 2025 December 2025 October 2025 June 2025 March 2025 November 2025 September 2025 May 2025 February 2025

2021 Nordic GBC Webinar #3: Renovation of buildings and the Circular Economy 30/09/2021 The webinar was organised by Green Building Council Denmark within the Nordic Green Building Councils Network initiative. Arnhildur Pálmadóttir (architect at sap architects) and Sigríður Ósk Bjarnadóttir (the board member of Green Building Council Iceland and Docent at the University of Iceland) represented Green Building Council Iceland. Among other things, they presented a new BM Vallá's project on circular concrete. Slides from the event (in English) are available here: → Introduction to circular economy (Lau Raffnsøe, Technical director, Green Building Council Denmark) ; → Sweden: Recycle and reuse an entire building (Magnus Tengberg, Head of real estate, Gothenburg Region, Vasakronan) ; → Norway: First circular building (Trond Simonsen, Manager sustainability, Entra ASA) ; → Finland: Circular approaches to planning in Hartaanselänranta, Oulu (Tuuli Kassi, Circular economy specialist/Architect, Ethica Finland) ; → Iceland: Circular concrete (Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, Architect, sap architects & Sigríður Ósk Bjarnadóttir, Docent, the University of Iceland) ; → Denmark: Construction waste reused as resources in new constructions in the initiative City Loop (Klaus Kellermann, Sustainability architect, Roskilde Municipality). Nordc GBC Webinar #3 Nordic Climate Forum for Construction 2021 27/09/2021 The conference Nordic Climate Forum for Construction 2021 was held on September 27, 2021, at 8-13. The event took place in English. Further information can be found here . Agenda: → Moderator's welcome (Sigríður Ósk Bjarnadóttir, Board member of Green Bulding Council Iceland); → Opening words (Ásmundur Einar Daðason, Minister of Social Affairs in Iceland); → On time and water (Andri Snær Magnason, Writer); → Oslo: How to reduce GHG emissions by 95% by 2030? (Heidi Sørensen, Director of Oslo’s Climate Agency); → European Commission: Construction products regulation and Environmental product declarations (Tapani Mikkeli, Head of Sector, Sustainable Construction, European Commission, DG GROW); → Status and current issues from academia (Jukka Heinonen, Professor, University of Iceland and Aalto University in Finland); → Status and current issues from authority (Kristina Einarsson, Boverket, Sweden & Luzie Rück, Bolig- og Planstyrelsen, Denmark); → Status and current issues from industry (Björt Ólafsdóttir, Real Estate Developer, Iða and former Minister of the Environment in Iceland) ; → Implementation of limit values in the Netherlands (Jos Verlinden, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations in the Netherlands) ; → Limit values in the Nordic countries (Matti Kuittinen, Senior advisor, Ministry of the Environment in Finland) ; → Roundtable discussion: Limit values and Nordic harmonisation 20-24/09/2021 World Green Building Week 2021 In September every year, the so-called "Green building week" is organized by the World Green Building Council. This year, the main topic is "Building resilience", which deals with how to build resilience in the built environment. More information about the event can be found here . Green Building Day 2021 02/09/2021 The annual Green Building Day was held in IÐNÓ this year on Thursday, 2nd September. The talks were given by leading professionals in design, planning and civil engineering, where sustainability in the built environment will be the guiding principle. The event was held in Icelandic but two presentations was given in English. Unfortunately, the recording of the meeting was lost and streaming is not available this year. Facebook event can be found here . Agenda: Moderator : Elín Hirst Opening speech : Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland → Catastrophic warming as an icentive for change (in English) (Jukka Heinonen, Professor, Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering, the University of Iceland); Jukka Heinonen's presentation: → Græn framtíðí í Hafnarfirði (Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir, Mayor of Hafnarfjörður); → Tækifæri og áskoranir við það að fjármagna grænni byggð (Kristrún Tinna Gunnarsdóttir, Head of Strategy & Sustainability, Íslandsbanki); → Grænþvotturinn leysir ekki loftslagsmálin (Þorsteinn Víglundsson, CEO, Hornstein ehf); → Kynning á fagviðurkenningunni Græna skóflan (Ragnar Ómarsson, Chairman of the Green Building Council Iceland board); → The change that has taken place in the Norwegian construction industry in terms of sustainability, and the drivers behind this change (á ensku) (Marit Kindem Thyholt, Chief adviser on climate and environment, Skanska); Marit Kindem Thyholt's presentation: → Grænir hvatar í tengslum við uppbyggingu og rekstur fasteigna með fókus á atvinnuhúsnæði (Friðjón Sigurðarsson, Executive director, Reitir); → I nnri og ytri hvatar í umhverfismálum (Hrólfur Karl Cela, Architect, Basalt); → Byggjum grænni framtíð, samstarfsverkefni stjórnvalda og hagaðila byggingariðnaðarins um vistvænni mannvirkjagerð (Þóra Margrét Þorgeirsdóttir, Specialist, Húsnæðis- og mannvirkjastofnun). 03/06/2021 Morning meeting - Energy transition at the construction site On June 3, Grænni organized an exciting seminar in collaboration with Landsvirkjun, Húsnæðis- og mannvirkjastofnun, and Green Energy. The topic of the seminar was energy transition at the construction site. The live video can be found here (in Icelandic ). Nordic GBC Webinar #2: How can we half emissions from construction in two? 27/05/2021 The webinar was organized by the Norwegian Green Building Council with the Nordic GBC Network initiative. Recordings of the presentations are available here: → Our sector as a solution to the Paris Agreement ( Katharina Th. Bramslev, CEO, Norwegian Green Building Council ) → Marked initiatives and common practice in our countries ( CEOs from the GBCs in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland ) → Concrete goes low carbon in Denmark ( Jan Søndergaard Hansen, Managing director, Unicon A/S ) → Nordic collaboration for low carbon construction ( Matti Kuittinen, Senior advisor, Ministry of the Environment in Finland ) → Low carbon dwellings in Iceland ( Benedikt Ingi Tómasson, General manager, Vistbyggð ) → Lidl Visby and Noll CO2- why and how? ( Mattias Tas, Sustainability manager, Lidl ) Annual Green Building Council Iceland Meeting 21/04/2021 The meeting agenda depends on the general meeting duties according to the GBCI's bylaws and was as follows: 1. The board's report on the GBCI's work in the past year. 2. The board's work plan for the next working year. 3. The board's budget for the following operating year. 4. Invoice submission. 5. Proposals and changes to the GBCI's bylaws. 6. Election of the board of directors. 7. Inspectors' remuneration (cf. Article 9) 8. Other matters. Minutes of the general meeting can be found here (in Icelandic) . Nordc GBC Webinar #2 Strategy meeting with GBCI' partners 17/03/2021 Lectures on sustainability in the construction industry 10/2020-02/2021 IĐAN educational centre and Green Building Council Iceland organised a series of lectures on the sustainability of the construction industry: 1. BYKO's sustainability and environmental strategy. 2. Purchase of building materials and Iceland's first Swan-certified residential building. 3. Swan-certified Kársnes School and Húsasmiðinn's environmental policy. 4. Socially certified Selfoss and vision of sustainability. 5. Innivist and the "unsustainable generation". 6. Garbage as a resource and reuse of structures. See all the lectures that have been given and recordings from them (in Icelandic ) on the IDUNNAR website here.

Green Building Council's (Grænni byggð) events in 2023. 2024 Turfhouse event 08/10/2024 GBCI and Lendager Iceland held a morning meeting about turf houses at Norræna húsið on october 8th. The event included lectures about the history of turf houses, their carbon footprint, and what can be learned from the past about circularity in future building projects. Hjörleifur Stefánsson , a turf house expert, spoke about the final era of the Icelandic turf house in the first decades of the 20th century. Katarzyna Jagodzińska from GBCI explained a Life Cycle Assesment (LCA) done on a model turfhouse, which serves as a baseline for further conceptual investigation of how to adopt “past” techniques and materials in modern design and build circularly. Arnhildur Pálmadóttir from Lendager Iceland spoke about the future of building with circularity, and the opportunities to learn from the past. Recording of the meeting can be found here. GBCI Day 2024 25/09/2024 The Day of Green Building, GBCI's annual conference, was held in IÐNÓ on the 25th of September. Keynote speaker was Kasper Benjamin Reimer Bjørkskov . Kasper is a Danish architect who specializes in transforming complex environmental and social challenges into innovative, sustainable building solutions, promoting inclusive design and inspiring social change. He has been actively involved in numerous construction projects whose main goal is to minimize CO2 emissions, and at the same time demonstrate that low-carbon buildings can be built without costing more. Moderator was Freyr Eyjólfsson , musician, entertainer, media person, and current project manager of education and promotions at SORPA. Freyr has long advocated for the transformation towards a circular economy, not least in the construction sector. On the agenda was a diverse set of lectures on the design and construction of environmentally friendly buildings, as well as a panel discussion about needs and proposed solutions in the industry. The full agenda can be seen here below. At the end of the day the Green shovel was awarded to Urriðaból , a kindergarten in Garðabær. Launching event of the Icelandic network on circular construction - Hringvangur 15/05/2024 At this half-day conference, among other things, the status, challenges and future of Icelandic timber products for the construction industry were discussed, but in addition several projects were presented that received funding from the Askur - Construction Research Fund and examples of Icelandic structures made of timber were shown. The conference was part of the Innovation Week and was held by Green Building Council Iceland, the Housing and Construction Authority, Land and Forestry, Trétækniráðgjöf slf., and Iceland's Farmers' Association. Agenda (In Icelandic) Loftslagsávinningur timburvara Áróra Árnadóttir, framkvæmdastjóri Grænni byggðar og aðjúnkt hjá umhverfis- og byggingarverkfræðideild HÍ CE merking og staðlavinna Eiríkur Þorsteinsson, trétæknir hjá Trétækniráðgjöf Áskoranir, staða og framtíð íslenskra timburvara Ólafur Eggertsson, sérfræðingur hjá Land og skógi og dósent við LBHÍ Timbur sem efni í nærumhverfinu - Landsfjórðungahús Auður Hreiðarsdóttir, arkitekt hjá Esja Architecture Krosslímdar timbureiningar – áhættuþættir og meðhöndlun Gústaf Adolf Hermannsson, sérfræðingur hjá HMS Hlé Mannvirki úr íslensku timbri Hreinn Óskarsson, sviðsstjóri þjóðskóga og landa,og Trausti Jóhannsson, skógarvörður hjá Landi og skógi Tækifæri í timbri Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, arkitekt og eigandi Lendager á Íslandi Íslenskt timbur Hlynur Axelsson, arkitekt hjá HAX arkitektúr og stundakennari við Listaháskóla Íslands Gestastofa í Þjórsárdal Marcos Zotes, arkitekt og meðeigandi hjá Basalt arkitektum Val á íslensku timbri Halldór Eiríksson T.ark. Fundarstjóri var Þóra Margrét Þorgeirsdóttir, framkvæmdastjóri hjá HMS Upptöku má finna hér . Annual General Meeting 23/04/2024 GBCI's annual general meeting was held on April 24 from 14:00 - 16:00 in the Verkís building at Ofanleiti 2. Before the usual meeting work began, Magnús Arason and Björgvin Brynjarsson from EFLA gave a presentation on Carbon calculations for infrastructure projects, and Þóra Margrét Þorgeirsdóttir from HMS discussed the implementation of life cycle analyzes in building regulations. Five seats on the board were elected, four to two years and one to one year. With sustainability as a life's work 21/03/2024 On Thursday, March 21, the University of Iceland, the Architects' Association of Iceland, Green Building Council Iceland and HMS held a seminar on the sustainable solutions of architect Jón Kristinsson on the occasion of Jón's 60th work anniversary. The seminar took place in Veröld - Hús Vigdísar, and lasted from 15.00-17.00. Jón has lived in Deventer in the Netherlands for most of his life and studied architecture at Delft University of Technology, where he later held the position of professor in environmental technology and design. He is known for having designed the most eco-friendly building in the Netherlands and is widely known for his inventions in the field of sustainability. On the first of last January, Jón was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon for pioneering work in ecological building design on the international stage. Agenda: Opening Sigríður Maack chairman of the Icelandic Association of Architects, and Sigurður Magnús Garðarsson, president of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences of the University of Iceland, welcome guests Integrated sustainable design by Jón Kristinsson Prof.dr.ir. Andy van den Dobbelsteen PhD, Professor at Delft University of Technology. Frequency of moisture damage and quality of indoor air - can the problem be reduced with heat exchange on ventilation? Björn Marteinsson architect and civil engineer and former teacher at UI. In the beginning, the end should be considered Arnhildur Pálmadóttir architect talks about sustainable building Panel discussion Jón Kristinsson, architect and guest of honor; Koos Slootweg, engineer; Þórhildur Fjóla Kristjánsdóttir, engineer; Björn Marteinsson, architect; Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, architect and Andy van den Dobbelsteen, engineer Moderator: Guðrún Ingvarsdóttir architect Workshop on environmental conditions in tenders and construction contracts 6/03/2024 Central Public Procurement, the Federation of Icelandic Industries, the Housing and Construction Authority and Green Building Council Iceland called for an open conversation about environmental conditions in tenders and construction contracts in Iceland. The meeting took place on Wednesday, March 6 at 14.00 to15.30 in Hús atvinnulífsins in Borgartún 35, in the meeting hall Hyl. Agenda Þóra Margrét Þorgeirsdóttir from the Housing and Construction Authority reviewed the criteria and objectives of action 6.4 in the Roadmap towards sustainable construction 2030. Sveinbjörn Ingi Grímsson from Central Public Procurement discussed about scope in public procurement to apply environmental conditions within the legal framework. Áróra Árnadóttir, CEO of Green Building Council Iceland, discusses the results of a response survey on the use of environmental conditions in tenders and work contracts for the purchase of services and goods in the civil engineering sector in Iceland. Ragnar Ómarsson project manager at Verkís hf. deals with the topic of environmental conditions in Nordic models and Icelandic ideas. A workshop with open discussions at work tables on priorities and priorities in harmonized environmental conditions for tenders and selection criteria for tenders. The moderator was Elísa Arnarsdóttir, business manager of the housing division at the Federation of Icelandic Industries Slides from the meeting can be accessed here . Let's talk about the circular economy 28/02/2024 The event Let's talk about the circular economy was held in Gróska on 28 February at 13.00 - 15.30. After discussions with stakeholders, we know that there are numerous actions that can be taken to facilitate the introduction of the circular economy in the Icelandic construction industry. But which actions should be prioritized? What should public bodies emphasize in order to promote the implementation? We summarized the possible actions that were discussed, in these three categories: Improved architectural design Correct recording of the environmental impact of new buildings and renovations Reduce risk and improve the efficiency of circular projects In the second part of the event, participants were asked to answer which activities, aimed at facilitating circular construction, the Nordic Council of Ministers should focus on. They were also invited to answer the question: what should the Nordic countries strive for at the European level? Webinar: Emission-free construction sites: Knowledge gaps and research needs 15/02/2024 In the middle of February, we held an online event where we presented a new version related to emission-free construction sites in the project Nordic Sustainable Construction, but the report points out where the focus should lie in knowledge acquisition and experimental projects. You can now watch a recording of the event and view slides here .

Before 2021 The renovation of Swan-certified office building 12/11/2020 On September 18, Reitir received a Swan certification for the renovation of the Environment Agency's (Umhverfisstofnun) office building at Suðurlandsbraut 24. The construction was the first to receive certification according to Swan standards for environmentally certified renovations. During the briefing, the experience and lessons learned from the project were reviewed. The moderator was Þórhildur Fjóla Kristjánsdóttir, manager of Green Building Council Iceland. Slide presentations from the meeting can be found below (in Icelandic ): → Svansvottaðar endurbætur - hver eru viðmiðin fyrir vottun (Guðrún Lilja Kristinsdóttir, Team leader, Umhverfisstofnun); → Lærdómur eiganda hússins (Íris Þórarinsdóttir, Environmental manager, Reitir); → Reynsla framkvæmdaraðila (Þráinn Fannar Gunnarsson, Project manager, THG arkitektar). Office of the Environment Agency - video with the Director General Green operation of apartment buildings at the Living better conference 31/10/2020 Green Building Council Iceland gave a presentation on the Green operation of apartment buildings at the Living better conference on health and environmental issues. Housing associations can have a very positive impact on the environment, whether it is related to maintenance, waste management, common property, transport or gardening. Þórhildur Fjóla and Elísabet Sara tell about the many ways you can go, and some advice is also relevant for those who live in a single-family house, two-family house or three-family house. The lecture was prepared based on the guidelines for Green apartment buildings that GBCI prepared in 2019 (available here - in Icelandic ). The presentation can be watched here: Green bonds and real estate 28/10/2020 Morning session on the value of environmentally certified buildings for investors, was organised in collaboration with IcelandSif. Þórhildur Kristjánsdóttir, CEO of GBCI, opened the meeting and introduced different certifications, e.g. BREEAM, Leed and the Swan. Members from both Regin and Reitum review their experience with such certificates - their advantages, disadvantages and benefits for property owners. Gréta Þórsdóttir Björnsson, architect at the Environment and Planning Department of the City of Reykjavík also gave a talk. Slide presentations (in Icelandic ) can be found below: → Vottanir bygginga (Þórhildur Fjóla Kristjánsdóttir, Green Building Council Iceland); → BREEAM vottun (Baldur Már Helgason og Sunna Hrönn Sigmarsdóttir, Reginn); → Reynsla Reita af Svansvottun endurnýjunar skrifstofuhúsnæðis (Einar Þorsteinsson, Reitir); → Reynsla Reykjavíkurborgar ( Gréta Þórsdóttir Björnsson, Reykjavík City's Department of Environment and Planning). Annual Green Building Council Iceland Meeting 11/09/2020 The GBCI general meeting was held on Friday, September 11 at 12-2 pm in Hannesarholt, Grundarstíg 10. The usual general meeting activities took place. The meeting minutes can be found here. Green Building Day 2020 10/09/2020 The annual Green Building Day was held in Reykjavík City Hall's Tjarnarsal on Thursday, September 10, 2020. As in previous years, interesting talks were given by leading professionals from the fields of design, planning and civil engineering, where sustainability in the built environment will be the guiding principle. Among the speakers is the Norwegian architect Tine Hegli, who can be considered one of the world's leading experts in the field of carbon-neutral design. Facebook event can be found here . Full live video can be found here. Slides and presentation recordings can be found below. The event was held in Icelandic with one presentation in English. Agenda → Welcoming (Moderator, Kristjana Ósk Jónsdóttir, GBCI Board member and marketing director, Reitir) ; → Opening speech (Ásmundur Einar Daðason, Ministry of Housing in Iceland); → Carbon neutral buildings ( in English; video recording is missing ) (Tine Hegli , Architect, Snøhetta and professorr, the Oslo School of Architecture and Design) ; → Grænni byggingar hjá borginni (Dagur B. Eggertsson, the Mayor of Reykjavík); → Reynsla verktaka af BREEAM (Bjarma Magnúsdóttir, Project manager, ÍAV); → Græn skuldabréf og fasteignir (Hrefna Ösp Sigfinnssdóttir, Managing Director, Landsbankinn); → Umhverfisstefna BYKO (Sigurður Brynjar Pálsson, CEO, BYKO); → Aðlögun að loftslagsbreytingum með grænum lausnum (Halldóra Hreggviðsdóttir, General manager and founder, Alta); → Kolefnisspor viðmiðunarhúss á Íslandi (Ólafur H. Wallevik, Professor, Háskólinn í Reykjavík and Director of the Construction Industry Laboratory, NMÍ); → Vistvænn vegvísir fyrir byggingariðnaðinn (Þóra Margrét Þorgeirsdóttir, Specialist, Húsnæðis- og mannvirkjastofnun); → Vistvottun skipulags (Íris Þórarinsdóttir, Environmental manager, Reitir); → Loftslagsáskorun arkitekta (Björn Guðbrandsson, Architect, ARKÍS); → Grænni byggð og loftslagmálin (Ragnar Ómarsson, Construction engineer, Verkís and chairman of the GBCI Board); Nordic Climate Forum for Construction 27/08/2020 Nordic Climate Forum for Construction was held online on August 27, 2020 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Icelandic time. It was organised by Trafik-, Bygge and Boligstyrelsen in Denmark in collaboration with other housing and infrastructure organizations in the Nordic countries, The Swedish Life Cycle Center in Sweden and the Nordic Council of Ministers. Húsnæðis- og mannvirkjastofnun (HMS) is the Icelandic partner in this Nordic collaboration. Its purpose was to have a conversation about how the Nordic countries can better control the environmental impact of the construction industry and reduce emissions from construction. The detailed agenda can be found here . The presentation recordings are available here . Rafhjólavæðingin - Hádegisfundur 25/08/2020 Græna Orkan, GBCI, and Hjólafærni hosted a lunch meeting on the electric bike market in Iceland at Green Energy (Orkustofnun). The event was held in Icelandic. Moderator : Anna Margrét Kornélíusdóttir, Project manager, Græna Orkan. Agenda: → Reynslan hjá Reykjavíkurborg (Kristinn Eysteinsson, Project manager, Reykjavíkurborg); → Rafhjólareynslan hjá Norðurorku (Erla Björg Guðmundsdóttir, HR manager, Norðurorku); → Örflæði: Lítill mótor fyrir stuttar ferðir (Jökull Sólberg Auðunsson); → Aðstaða við verslunar- og þjónustukjarna (Baldur Már Helgason, Managing director, Reginn); → Rafhjól: Þjónn á þeytingi (Sesselja Traustadóttir, Hjólafærni). Upptökur frá viðburðinum : Morning talk: Travel habits in urban environment after Covid 19 23/06/2020 The event was held in Icelandic. Agenda: → Skipulagsmál, loftslagsmál og endurskoðun langtímamarkmiða eftir Covid19 (Hrafnhildur Bragadóttir, Skipulagsstofnun); → Hvað segja tölurnar um ferðavenjur á höfuðborgarsvæðinu (Daði Baldur Ottósson, EFLA); → Græni stígurinn í Græna treflinum (Þráinn Hauksson, Landslag); → Sveigjanlegri ferðavenjur og grænir innviðir (Ólöf Kristjánsdóttir, Mannvit); → Kófið, lýðheilsan og skipulagsmálin (Matthildur. Kr. Elmarsdóttir, Alta). Leap towards sustainability after Covid19 15/05/2020 GBCI had a tpresentation on Green infrastructure (Grænir innviðir) at the climate strike's lunch meeting on Leap towards sustainability after Covid19. The presentation can be found here (in Icelandic ). 07/05/2020 BREEAM - Annexe Green Building Council Iceland presented a summary of the results of research projects on the BREEAM certification system and ideas from the BREEAM - IS annexe. BREEAM in the UK has approved this work and will review the GBCI 2020 proposals. Sustainability in the construction industry - Course 29/04/2020 The course was held in Icelandic by IĐAN in cooperation with Green Building Council Iceland. There are four lectures which were: → Sjálfbærni í mannvirkjagerð - almenn yfirferð ( Ragnar Ómarsson); → Stig - Ný sjálfbærni viðmið Evrópusambandins (Levels) (Ragnar Ómarsson); → Bundið - kolefni (Embodied carbon) (Ragnar Ómarsson); → Hringrásarhagkerfið í byggingariðnaði - áskoranir og möguleikar (Þórhildur Fjóla Kristjánsdóttir). The 10th anniversary of Green Building Council Iceland! 24/02/2020 Presentations (event held in Icelandic ): → Niðurstöður rannsóknarverkefna Þórhildur Fjóla Kristjánsdóttir); → Myndir frá starfinu við ávarp frá Hlökk Theodórsdóttur → Loftlsagsmál og byggingar (Harpa Birgisdóttir). Morning meeting: Icelandic glulam, wooden buildings and furniture 05/12/2019 The morning meeting was organised in Hafnarborg (Strandgatu 34, Hafnarfjörður). The moderator was Ragnar Ómarsson, chairman of Green Building Council Iceland and construction engineer at Verkís. The event was held in Icelandic. The Facebook event can be found here. Agenda: → Umhverfisáherslur fyrir byggingar í Hafnarfirði (Sigurður Haraldsson, Chairman of Hafnarfjörður Environment and Planning Department); → Framleiðsla á límtré úr íslensku timbri - niðurstöður rannsókna (Logi Unnarson Jónsson, Construction engineer, LímtréVírnet); → Hönnun timburbygginga á Íslandi (Sigurður Einarsson, Architect, Batteríið arkitektar); → Timburbyggingar (Svava Björk Hjaltalín Jónsdóttir, Architect) → Að hanna húsgögn úr íslensku timbri (Björn Steinar Blumenstein, Designer) → Staða nytjaskóga á Íslandi (Hlynur Gauti Sigurðsson, CEO, Landsambands skógareigenda). Conference - Indoor air quality, energy efficiency and environmental certification 14/11/2019 GBCI's autumn conference on indoor air quality, energy efficiency and eco-certification (in Icelandic) . See event on Facebook here . Agenda: → Af hverjum erum við hér í dag? Áskoranir varðandi loftræstingu og orkunýtni (Björn Marteinsson, Associate professor, Háskóli Íslands); → Orkuhermun og Raunnotkun – Er gott samhengi þar á milli? (Sveinn Áki, Engineer, VSB Verkfræðistofa); → Loftræstilausnir í BREEAM verkefnum (Brynjar Örn Árnason, Engineer; EFLA); → Loftræsting og loftgæði í skólum: Svansvottaðurskóli á Íslandi (Alma Dagbjört Ívarsdóttir, Engineer, Mannvit); → Áherslur Betri Bygginga (Ólafur H. Wallevik, Director of the Construction Industry Laboratory, NMÍ); → SIMIEN Orkuútreikningar fyrir BREEAM verkefni (Bjartur Guangze Hu, Engineer, VSÓ Ráðgjöf); → Betri byggingar (Sylgja Dögg Sigurjónsdóttir, Construction engineer, EFLA); → Rekstur loftræstikerfa og orkunýtni á Íslandi (Karl H. Karlsson, Blikksmiðjan and HR). Workshop on BREEAM 31/10/2019 Workshop on BREEAM in the context of Icelandic conditions. How is adaptation to local conditions generally managed? What is the experience with BREEAM in Iceland and how can the requirements of BREEAM be adapted to Icelandic conditions? Experts shared their experience with BREEAM and how its requirements can be met, taking into account Icelandic conditions. This was a closed workshop among members of the Green Building Council Iceland. Educational session on BREEAM 31/10/2019 GBCI organised a meeting with BREEAM expert Glen Watts in the Verkís office. The discussion included trends and trends in new construction and in-use versions of BREEAM environmental certification and how BREEAM adapts to Icelandic conditions. BREEAM is one of the world's best-known and most widely used environmental certification systems. The system covers many factors related to the impact of a building on the environment, but the number of Icelandic buildings with BREEAM certification is increasing rapidly every year. See the Facebook event here . What to do with the methane? 23/10/2019 Græna orkan, Green Building Council Iceland and Orkustofnun organised a lunch event entitled "What to do with the methane?" Wednesday, October 23. Ways to increase the utilization of methane in this country, and its role in the energy exchange, were discussed, especially in light of the planned increase in its production. Also, Sorpa's gas and composting plant was introduced. The chairperson was Fundarstjóri var Þórhildur Fjóla Kristjánsdóttir, CEO of GBCI. The event was held in Icelandic. The prelegents were as follows: → Björn Halldórsson, Managing director, Sorpa; → María Jóna Magnúsdóttir, Executive director, Bílgreinasambandsins; → Hafsteinn Helgason, Head of development, EFLA; → Auður Nanna Baldvinsdóttir, Business development manager, Landsvirkjun and the chairman of the GBCI Board; → Guðmundur B. Friðriksson, Office manager, Office of Environmental Quality at the City of Reykjavík. Morning talk on the school grounds design for ecological transport 18/10/2019 Agenda (presentations in Icelandic ): → Ólöf Kristjánsdóttir - the transportation specialist at Mannvit Verkfræðistofa presented a presentation based on data from and work with Reykjavík City's Cycling Plan. → Herborg Árnadóttir from Alta ráðgjöf delivered a talk based on his project on active transport from the point of view of the movement and how to design an urban environment that encourages it. → Hermann Georg Gunnlaugsson from Teiknistofunni Storð gave a talk titled "The school site from the children's point of view - School site design and sustainable transport ". Hermann recently defended his Master's thesis in planning studies on the environment of preschools and the effects of built density on preschool sites. → Dagur Bollason from GBCI discussed what the involvement of administrative and planning authorities can be to better foster sustainable transport at all school levels. Morning talk on Swan certification 31/05/2019 Agenda (presentations in Icelandic ): → Guðrún Lilja Kristinsdóttir from the Environment Agency of Iceland (Umhverfisstofnun) discussed the Swan certification for Icelandic buildings in general. Umhverfisstofnun is working on Swan certification for the renovation of its office building owned by Reitir. → Finnur Sveinsson reviewed the experience of using the Swan certification both in his own single-family house and also the experience with the IKEA block that recently received Swan certification. → Björn Marteinsson from the University of Iceland (Háskóla Íslands) reviewed the energy solution that was chosen for Finnur and Þórdís' house (above). → Rakel Sif S. Thorarensen newly graduated construction technician, delivered a talk on construction waste in the context of a Swan-certified building. Morning talk on Oakland EcoBlock 30/04/2019 Gregory Thompson is an architect and analyst at the California Institute for Energy and Environment, a subsidiary of UC Berkeley. He discussed the Oakland EcoBlock project, where the goal is to implement a holistic solution to dramatically improve the ecological footprint of the already built environment. The moderator was Halldór Eiríksson from T.ark architects. The meeting was held in English. Gregory's lecture is avialable here . Green Building Day 2019 11/04/2019 A conference on sustainability in the construction industry and planning was held in HT103 in Háskólatorgi. The conference was well attended and many informative talks were given. It was held in Icelandic with two presentations in English. See the Facebook event here . Presentations: → The Property Sectors Roadmap towards 2050 (in English ) (Katharina Bramslev, CEO, Norwegian Green Building Council); → Hugmyndir Byggingarfélags um bíllausan lífstíl (Magnús Jensen, Architect, Miðgarðs byggingarfélags); → European trends in Green Buildings (in English ) (James Drinkwater, CEO, European Green Building Councils); → Sjálfsþurft (Margrét Harðardóttir, Architect, Studio Granda); → Sjálf / bær (Anna María Bogadóttir, Architect); → Í eina átt (Ólöf Örvarsdóttir, Director of the Environment and Planning Department of the City of Reykjavík); → Grænar lausnir fyrir byggingar (Helga Jóhanna Bjarnadóttir, Engineer and director of the environmental department, EFLA); → Af hverju Vistvottun? (Jón Pálmi Guðmundsson, CEO, Urriðaholt); → Hvernig er að búa í vistvottuðu húsi? (Finnur Sveinssson, Environmentalist and project manager of the first swan-certified building in Iceland); → Ný rannsóknarverkefni um sjálfbærar byggingar (Ólafur H. Wallevik, Director of the Construction Industry Laboratory, NMÍ). Morning talk on the experience with the BREEAM eco-certification system 21/03/2019 Agenda (in Icelandic ): → Egill Guðmundsson , architect at ARKÍS discussed their experiences as ARKÍS took part in several projects including the BREEAM certification system. → Olga Árnadóttir , architect and project manager for environmental affairs at Framkvæmdasýslan, discussed the results of her Master's project: The environmental certification system BREEAM - Analysis of the adaptability of the assessment system to Icelandic conditions. → Karl Magnús Karlsson and Ólafur Axelsson from VA arkitektar discussed Hönnun á Sundhöllinni (the Design of the Sundhöllinn), which has recently received BREEAM design certification. → Elín Vignisdóttir , a geographer at Verkís discussed Consultants' experience in BREEAM projects. Morning talk about ALDIN Biodome, growing herbs and green walls 07/03/2019 Agedna (event held in Icelandic ): → Ræktun Kryddjurta (Auður Rafnsdóttir, Author of a book: Kryddjurtaræktun fyrir byrjendur); → Gróðurveggir, gerðir, upsetning og umhirða (Magnús Bjarklind, Horticulturist, EFLA); → Aldin Biodome verkefnið (Hjördís Sigurðardóttir, Organisational analyst). Morning talk on architecture, people's well-being and social sustainability 31/01/2019 Presenters: → Hildigunnur Sverrisdóttir; → Hildur Gunnarsdóttir ; → Áslaug Traustadóttir. Morning talk about the design of intersections for diverse modes of travel 06/12/2018 Agenda (presentations in Icelandic ): → Skipulagsmál og ferðavenjur (Sóley Ósk Sigurgeirsdóttir, Skipulagsstofnun); → Borgin, áskoranir og framtíðarsýn varðandi fjölbreyttar samgöngur ( Edda Ívarsdóttir, Reykjavíkurborg); → Hönnunarleiðbeiningar ( Bryndís Friðriksdóttir, EFLA); → Hönnun gatnamóta með áherslu á almenningssamgöngur ( Lilja Guðríður Karlsdóttir, Viaplan); → Hönnun gatnamóta með tilliti til hjólreiða ( Hörður Bjarnason, Mannvit); → Hönnun gatnamóta við þjóðvegi ( Erna B. Hreinsdóttir, Vegagerðin). Morning talk about criteria for ecological construction 22/11/2018 Here you can find the lectures from the morning talk about the criteria for ecological construction. We had lectures on: → Rýmisnýtingu og sveigjanleika - Anna Sigríður Jóhannsdóttir, VA arkitektar; → Efnisnotkun og úrgang - Gyða Mjöll Ingólfsdóttir, EFLA and Elín Vignisdóttir, Verkís; → Innivist - Sandra Rán Ásgrímsdóttir, Mannvit; → Lóðamál og vistvænar samgöngur - Ólöf Kristjánsdóttir, Mannvit; → Orkumál og stýringu - Þórhildur Fjóla Kristjansdóttir, Green Building Council Iceland. Conference on construction waste 08/11/2018 The conference on construction waste was a collaborative project between FENÚR, GBCI, and Samtaka iðnaðarins. The meeting was moderated by Bryndís Skúladóttir, a consultant at VSÓ ráðgjöf. The event was held in Icelandic. Presentations: → Source separation and organization og the work on construction site (Eirik Wærner, Consultant, Multiconsult, Osló); → Niðurrif og nýbyggingar – staðan og áskoranir hjá Reykjavíkurborg (Rúnar Gunnarsson, Department head of Primary design, Reykjavíkurborg); → Getur BIM minnkað byggingarúrgang? (Ingibjörg Birna Kjartansdóttir, BIM development menager, ÍSTAK); → BREEAM verkefni hjá Framkvæmdasýslu ríkisins ( Olga Árnadóttir, Project manager for environmental affairs, Framkvæmdasýslu ríkisins); → Reynsla verktaka: Eyjólfur Bjarnason , Quality manager, Framkvæmdafélaginu Arnarhvoli; Örn Tryggvi Johnsen , Project and operations manager, ÞG Verk; → Endurvinnslufarvegur byggingarúrgangs ( Arngrímur Sverrisson, Operations manager, Gámaþjónustunni hf.); → Dæmi um endurvinnslu/endurnýtingu ( Harpa Þrastardóttir, Environment and quality Manager, Hlaðbæ Colas); → Reynsla úr norskum verkefnum ( Haukur Þór Haraldsson, Consultant, Verkís); → Efnismiðlun Sorpu (Guðmundur Tryggvi Ólafsson , Operations manager of recycling centers, Sorpa); → Leiðbeiningar um byggingarúrgang (J ón Guðmundsson, Professional director of the construction department, Mannvirkjastofnun). Business Environment Day 17/10/2018 The GBCI' CEO, Þórhildur Fjóla Kristjánsdóttir gave a lecture on Eco-friendly structures on Business Environment Day. Morning talk about ecosystem analysis and sustainability in the Greenlandic construction industry 17/08/2018 Agenda (event held in Icelandic ): → Vistferilsgreiningar í byggingariðnaði by Gyða Mjöll Ingólfsdóttur, Environmental engineer at EFLA. → Sjálfbærni áherslur í Grænlenskum Byggingariðnaði by Ragnar Ómarsson, Construction engineer at Verkís. Morning talk about transport agreements 01/03/2018 Do transport agreements work? From the morning talk of GBCI on March 1st about transport agreements (in Icelandic ): → Reynsla Orkuveitu Reykjavíkur by Hólmfríður Sigurðardóttir, Environmental manager at Orkuveita Reykjavíkur; → Reynslan hjá Landspítalanum by Hulda Steingrímsdóttir; → Reynsla Reykjavíkurborgar by Lóu Birna Birgisdóttir; → Reynsla Verkís by Elín Vignisdóttir. Morning talk on Græna Stíginn í Græna Treflinum 31/01/2018 Presenters: → Brynjólfur Jónsson, manager of the Forestry Association of Iceland (Skógræktarfélags Íslands); → Þráinn Hauksson, landscape architect at Landslag.

Green Building Council's (Grænni byggð) events in 2023. 2023 Launching event of the Icelandic network on circular construction - Hringvangur 13/12/2023 It has been decided to create an independent platform for communication about the circular economy in the construction industry. This network will be called Hringvangur. Its establishment is within the Nordic Networks for Circular Construction project, in which the Housing and Infrastructure Agency and Green Building Council Iceland participate. Greenery will manage the venue. Hringvangur's founding meeting was held on the 13th of December from 15:00-16:30 at the Grand Hotel. The event began with a presentation of Hringvangur's goals, scope and budget. Afterwards, we listened to four inspiring talks about ambitious Icelandic circular construction projects, chaired by Halla Helgadóttir (Iceland Design and Architecture ). Agenda (in Icelandic ) : → Áróra Árnadóttir, Grænni byggð - Hringvangur → Björk Úlfarsdóttir, Colas – Endurunnið í malbik → Elín Þórólfsdóttir, EFLA and Perla Dís Kristinsdóttir, Basalt Architects - Hringrásarveggur → Ragnar Ómarsson, Verkís – Um meðferð á bundnu kolefni → Arnhildur Pálmadóttir and Hrefna Sigurðardóttir, Lendager Ísland – Wasteland sýningin Here, you can find Facebook event. Energy efficiency of buildings in Iceland - are we ready to add 35,000 apartments in the next 6 years? 30/11/2023 Agenda and presentations : → Alma Dagbjört Ívarsdóttir, Mannvit Orkunýtni bygginga og bætt innivist - notkun á hermihugbúnaði (in Ice landic) → Ásgeir Valur Einarsson, Iðan Þéttleiki húsa - stórt skref í átt að orkunýtni (in Icelandic) → Egill M Þorbergsson, Veitur Forðamál fyrir höfuðborgarsvæðið - 100 ára sýn Veitna (i n Icelandic) → Katarzyna Jagodzinska, Grænni Byggð Mikilvægi orkunýtingar þegar horft er til sjálfbærni og hringrásarhagkerfið (i n Icelandic) → Matthías Ásgeirsson, VSÓ Ávinningur á bættri orkunotkun eldri bygginga (i n Icelandic) → Þórunn Nanna Ragnarsdóttir, EFLA Framtíð orkuútreikninga bygginga og hlutverk vélrænna loftræsikerfa (i n Icelandic) Panellists: → Ágúst Pálsson, HMS ; → Hilmar Hildar Magnsúsarson, Reykjavíkurborg; → Íris Þórarinsdóttir, Reitir. Moderator: Rósbjörg Jónsdóttir, Icelandic Renewable Energy Cluster . Energy efficiency of buildings in Iceland - are we ready to add 35,000 apartments in the next 6 years? 31/10/2023 Increased energy efficiency in buildings in Iceland → How are we doing? → Is energy saving in buildings in Iceland necessary? → Can we use energy better in buildings? → How can we improve utilization? → Do we have access to sufficient energy to build 35,000 apartments by 2030 as planned? These questions and others were answered at the event organised by Green Building Council Iceland, HMS, and Icelandic Renewable Energy Cluster . The recording of the event can be found here . Agenda and presentations : → Alma Dagbjört Ívarsdóttir, Mannvit Orkunýtni bygginga og bætt innivist - notkun á hermihugbúnaði (in Icelandic) → Ásgeir Valur Einarsson, Iðan Þéttleiki húsa - stórt skref í átt að orkunýtni (in Icelandic) → Egill M Þorbergsson, Veitur Forðamál fyrir höfuðborgarsvæðið - 100 ára sýn Veitna (i n Icelandic) → Katarzyna Jagodzinska, Grænni Byggð Mikilvægi orkunýtingar þegar horft er til sjálfbærni og hringrásarhagkerfið (i n Icelandic) → Matthías Ásgeirsson, VSÓ Ávinningur á bættri orkunotkun eldri bygginga (i n Icelandic) → Þórunn Nanna Ragnarsdóttir, EFLA Framtíð orkuútreikninga bygginga og hlutverk vélrænna loftræsikerfa (i n Icelandic) Panellists: → Ágúst Pálsson, HMS ; → Hilmar Hildar Magnsúsarson, Reykjavíkurborg; → Íris Þórarinsdóttir, Reitir. Moderator: Rósbjörg Jónsdóttir, Icelandic Renewable Energy Cluster . Nordic Circular Summit Partner Session: Nordic Circular Construction ꜰᴜᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴄɪʀᴄᴜʟᴀʀ ᴇᴄᴏɴᴏᴍʏ ɪɴ ᴄᴏɴꜱᴛʀᴜᴄᴛɪᴏɴ: ᴇxᴘʟᴏʀɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ɪɴɴᴏᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ 18/10/2023 How can we, stakeholders in the construction sector, facilitate the circularity of our work? What could the Nordic Council of Ministers do to push forward circular construction? We explored together the need for innovation in the construction sector, focusing on how stakeholders can promote circularity in their work and the Nordic Council of Ministers' role in advancing circular construction at our event on the 18th of October as part of the Nordic Circular Summit conference. Here you can find the recording of the event. Agenda and presentations: Part I: Circular economy in construction – Is it doable in practice? → Katarzyna Jagodzińska, Project manager, Grænni byggð 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘴 – 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸? → Stefan Eriksson, Project manager, Vasakronan 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴-𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘒𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘈𝘑16 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 Part II: Group discussion Topic: New methods and new systems that support the reuse of building materials. Moderator: Otto-Wille Koste, Demos Helsinki . Green Building Council Day 2023 27/09/2023 The Green Building Council Day 2023 was held on the 27th of September from 13:00 to 17:00 in Gróska. The event kicked off with 11 interesting talks delivered by sustainability professionals in the construction industry. After the presentations, the Green Shovel was delivered. The prize was awarded to the FSRE and partners for the nursing home Móberg in Selfoss. At the event, we also had exhibitions of sustainable building solutions from Neuza Valadas , Stúdíó Flétta, Stúdíó Lúdika , and PAGO . See the Facebook event here . Agenda and presentations: Moderator : Þórhildur Fjóla Kristjánsdóttir, EFLA → Opnun stjórnarformanns (Íris Þórarinsdóttir, Reitir ); → Ávarp (Andrés Ingi Jónsson, Member of the Parlament); → Dagsbirta í byggð (in Ic elan dic) (Anna Sigríður Jóhannsdóttir, Architect); → Er græn byggð græn án grænna samgangna? (in Icelandic) (Daði Baldur Ottósson, EFLA ); → Mannlíf, byggð og bæjarrými (in Icelandic) (Magnea Guðmundsdóttir, Stika , og Jón Kjartan Ágústsson, SSH ); → Sjálfbær stýring jarðefnaflutninga (in Ic elan dic) (Davíð Thor Guðmundsson og Hallgrímur Örn Arngrímsson, Verkís ); → Heildrænar áherslur Svansins (in Ic elan dic) (Guðrún Lilja Kristinsdóttir, UST ); → Breytingar á byggingarreglugerð (in Ic elan dic) (Þórunn Lilja Vilbergsdóttir, HMS ); → Áhrif flokkunarreglugerðar ESB á byggingarstarfsemi (in Ic elan dic) (Margrét Helga Guðmundsdóttir, Deloitte ); → Hringrásarsmíði og Hringvangur (Katarzyna Jagodzińska, Grænni byggð); Nordic Sustainable Infrastructure Webinar 13/09/2023 Have you thought about the state of ecological infrastructure in the Nordic countries? On the 13th of September, we, with our sister organizations in Sweden, Finland, and Norway, held a seminar from 10:00 - 11:30. The state of sustainability in infrastructure in each country will be reviewed, and then we will receive two presentations on outstanding examples. It will also be possible to participate in discussions. Agenda : Current state of sustainability in infrastructure from each country: - from Finland Riina Känkänen, Chair of FIGBC Infrastructure Committee and Head of Sustainability, Ramboll Finland; - from Sweden Sofie Absér, Senior Green Transformation Strategist, Sweco; - from Iceland Alexandra Kjeld, Vice-chair of Green Building Council Iceland, EFLA; - from Norway Ketil Søyland, Project director sustainability, Norconsult. Interesting project presentations: - "Crown Bridges - How to make Sustainability part of the project" - Minna Tukiainen, City of Helsinki, Finland; - "Minimizing life cycle emissions from power stations" - Kristinn Jasonarson, Landsvirkjun, Iceland; - "Hammarängen" - David Nordberg and Martin Lundholm, Skanska, Sweden. NordicSustainaleInfrastrucureWebnar Joint Nordic event: Nordic Circular Construction and New Nordic Bauhaus 13/09/2023 What should public bodies do to push for a cycle in construction? How can we, as a society, accelerate the transition to climate neutrality with the circular economy paradigm? On September 13th, we held a seminar in collaboration with Demos Helsinki , Green Building Council Finland , and URBAN AGENDA to answer these questions. Agenda and presentations: Part I: What should the public authorities do to push forward circularity in construction? → Policies Enabling the Reuse of Construction Products in the Nordics (Sidse Zimmermann, Nordic Sustainable Construction project, Denmark) → Material passports and a data dictionary for reused building materials (Katrine Hauge Smith, Senior Consultant - Danish Technological Institute, Denmark) Group discussion on chosen topics: → Secondary materials quality (How could public authorities ensure the quality of secondary materials?) → Cost responsibility (If additional assessment/work is necessary to enable reuse, where does the cost burden sit?) → Data availability (How can public authorities ensure the availability of secondary materials?) → Preparing for the future (What data could be gathered and what infrastructure could be built to avoid issues we're facing now in the future?) Part II: New Nordic Bauhaus – How will we live in a Carbon Neutral world in 2050? How do we want to live and build in the future when we do not strain the earth's balance and resources? What is "the good Nordic life" in the CO2-neutral society of the future? With support from the New Nordic Bauhaus initiative, we focus on the lifestyle of the future and, together with the audience, will formulate how we can develop a joint focus on the climate-neutral society of the future and everyday life where we continue to thrive and feel good - preferably with approaches such as art and culture. The society of the future must be climate neutral, and we must radically reduce our CO2 emissions. But how are we going to build and live, and how do we move forward when we basically know what the problem is, we have legislation, a framework and finances, but still the necessary change is going far too slowly. What can we do in the Nordics, what does the New Nordic Bauhaus look like, and what do we dream of in 2050? Panellists Antti Lehto, Assistant Professor – Housing Design, Aalto University , Finland Charlotte Nyholm, Architect and sustainable construction specialist, Vapaa Collective and Granlund , Finland Gitte Grønfeld Wille, Director, Nordic Culture Point , Finland Matti Kuittinen, Professor, Aalto University , Finland Moderator Nikolaj Sveistrup, Founder and Director, URBAN AGENDA, Denmark Key listener Mads Wolff, Director, Sustainability 2030, Danmörk CIRCON Conference. Circular construction: Are we ready for the leap? 01/09/2023 Green Building Council Iceland held a conference in Laugardalshöll on September 1 from 09:30 to 16:00. The conference was part of the Industrial Exhibition, and we worked together with the Housing and Civil Engineering Agency to combine the conference with their exhibition, where grantees from the Aski - Civil Engineering Research Fund were prioritized. At the conference, practical experience was shared about the circular economy in the construction industry, and the main obstacles were discussed. Agenda and presentations: Moderator : Freyr Eyjólfsson, Project manager - Circular economy, SORPA Session 1: Proof-of-concept - Design: → CIRCON project (Katarzyna Jagodzińska, Project manager - Circular construction, Grænni byggð) → Er verið að steypa nýju fötin keisarans? Þegar gagnsæi og rannsóknir gegna lykilhlutverki í vistvænni mannvirkjagerð (in Ic elandic) (Sigríður Ósk Bjarnadóttir, Director of sustainability and quality, Hornsteinn /BM Vallá ) → Form fylgir framboði (in Ic elan dic) (Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, Architect and co-owner, Lendager Island) → Jarðsetning: tímans rás (in Ic elandic) (Anna María Bogadóttir, Founder, URBANISTAN ) First panel discussion : → Bjarma Magnúsdóttir, Environment director, ÍAV → Halla Helgadóttir, Executive director, Iceland Design and Architecture → Íris Þórarinsdóttir, Environment manager, Reitir → Perla Dís Kristinsdóttir, Architect, Basalt Architects → Sigríður Maack, Chairman, Architects Association of Iceland Session 2: Proof-of-concept - Materials: → Kortlagning – en hvað meira? (in Icelandic) (Guðný Káradóttir, Team leader - The green way, VSÓ ) → Rúststeinar (in Ic elandic) (Narfi Þorsteinsson, Graphic designer, Narfi ) → Biobuilding: start small, think big (Jan Dobrowolski, Founder, Studio Ludíka ) → PAGO BYLTINGIN (Byggingarefni framtíðar) (in Ic elandic) (Ólöf Salmon Guðmundsdóttir, CEO, PAGO ) → CIRCULA PackWall Byggingaplötur (in Ic elandic) (Sighvatur Lárusson, Founder, CIRCULA) Second panel discussion : → Aðalheiður Atladóttir, Project manager, FSRE → Ásgeir B. Torfason, Financial expert → Björg Ásta Þórðardóttir, Director - Construction, the Federation of Icelandic Industries → Hulda Hallgrímsdóttir, Project Manager - Economic and Urban Development, Reykjavíkurborg → Þórunn Sigurðardóttir, Team leader, HMS → Boltinn byrjar að rúlla (in Icelandic) (Hrafnhildur Sif Hrafnsdóttir, Project manager, HMS ) (in Ic elandic) Watch the recording of the event here . 35,000 apartments in 10 years: What is the best way to do this? 22/08/2023 During Design March 2023, the Icelandic Association of Architects , in collaboration with Green Building Council Iceland and the Housing and Construction Authority , held a seminar in Gróska where quality, the environment and society were prioritized. The seminar arose from a new housing plan, where the state and local authorities plan to ensure the construction of 35,000 new apartments in the country over the next 10 years. The seminar began with presentations from architects and writers, which fed into panel discussions. The meeting was chaired by Brynja Þorgeirsdóttir. 35,000 apartments in 10 years: What is the best way to do this? 05/05/2023 During Design March 2023, the Icelandic Association of Architects , in collaboration with Green Building Council Iceland and the Housing and Construction Authority , held a seminar in Gróska where quality, the environment and society were prioritized. The seminar arose from a new housing plan, where the state and local authorities plan to ensure the construction of 35,000 new apartments in the country over the next 10 years. The seminar began with presentations from architects and writers, which fed into panel discussions. The meeting was chaired by Brynja Þorgeirsdóttir. Presentations: Anna María Bogadóttir, Architect and writer Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, Architect Friðgeir Einarsson, Writ er Kristján Örn Kjartansson, Architect Double discussion panel: Andri Snær Magnason, Writer Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, Architect Ásdís Hlökk Theodórsdóttir, Planner Borghildur Sturludóttir, Architect Dagur B. Eggertsson, Mayor of Reykjavík Gylfi Gíslason, Manager of J áverk Hermann Jónsson, CEO of the Housing and Construction Authority Jóhannes Þórðarson, Architect Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir, Mayor of Hafnarfjarðarbær Sigurður Hannesson, Executive Director of the Icel andic Industry Association (SI) Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, Minister of Infrastructure Thráinn Hauksson, Landscape architect Green Leap in Iceland’s construction sector 27/04/2023 Around 300 people took part in the Grænt stökk í mannvirkjagerð (Green Leap in Iceland’s construction sector) event discussing the transition to more sustainable and circular construction. The main message that can be taken from all of the speeches is: we can do it, but we have to work together to make the transition happen. The key lecture was given by Anders Lendager, the CEO at Lendager, who proved that circular construction is possible and dispelled the myth that circular building is always much more expensive than conventional one. His partner in Iceland, Arnhildur Palmadottir, showed her projects proving that circular construction is possible also in Iceland by playing with locally available materials. In the same subject, we presented a brief overview of new challenges and changes in the roles of stakeholders when switching to more circular construction, one of the outcomes of the CIRCON project. We also discussed other ongoing and recently completed projects, with an emphasis on those related to the Byggjum grænni framtíð - Roadmap towards sustainable construction . Agenda and the recordings of the presentations: Moderator: Björg Ásta Þórðardóttir, Director - Constructio n, the Federation of Icelandic Industries → Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, Minister of Infrastructure, Opening speech (in Ice landic) → The invention of the (un)natural system (Anders Lendager, Architect, founder and CEO, Lendager Group ) → Nordic Sustainable Construction: The Nordic journey in ecological construction (Helle Redder Momsen, Project manager Nordic Sustainable Construction ) → Byggjum grænni framtíð: Íslenska vegferðin í vistvænni mannvirkjagerð (in Icelandic) (Þóra Margrét Þorgeirsdóttir, Director of Infrastructure and Sustainability, HMS ) → Hvernig byggir Grænni byggð grænni framtíð? (in Icelandic) (Áróra Árnadóttir, CEO, Green Building Council Iceland ) → Urban society and urban agglomeration. The circular economy (Jukka Heinonen, Professor, University of Iceland ) → Arkitektúr og mannvirkjagerð með sjálfbærni og hringrásarhagkerfið að leiðarljósi (in Icelandic) (Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, Architect and co-owner, Lendager á Íslandi) → Circular construction: Can we continue with business as usual? ( Katarzyna Jagodzińska, Project manager, Green Building Council Iceland) → Loftslagsmarkmið, vistvæn steypa og byggingariðnaður (in Icelandic) (Sigríður Ósk Bjarnadóttir, Environmental affairs director, Hornsteinn ) → Askur styður við stökkið (in Icelandic) ( Hrafnhildur Sif Hrafnsdóttir, Project manager of Askur , HMS ) → Panel discussion Anders Lendager (Arkitekt, Architect, founder and CEO, Lendager Group ) and Sigurður Hannesson (Director, the Federation of Icelandic Industries ) The event was organised by Húsnæðis- og mannvirkjastofnunar (HMS) with the Federation of Icelandic Industries and Green Building Council Iceland. The way towards emission-free construction sites - Online event 16/03/2023 Throughout the first phase of this work package, the focus has been on gathering Nordic and European input to publish a report that analyses and determines the general definitions, boundaries, and terminology of the emission-free construction site area. This describes the status of the field today and is a good preparation for the next steps in the area. A standard definition of construction site boundaries and what emissions are included is a foundation for cooperative Nordic development in this field. Read the report: https://www.norden.org/da/node/79878 An online event was held to promote the publication of the report. There, we also introduced the Nordic network of cooperation and displayed the video from the site visit to the Green Construction Site of the Future. The event's moderator was Hólmfríður Bjarnadóttir, and specialists from Volvo CE and SiteHub talked about their way towards emission-free construction sites. Recording of the event: An urgent need for change 19/01/2023 On 19th January stakeholders in the building industry came together for the workshop Round Table for Circularity and had a meaningful conversation on how to implement a circular system in the industry. This is a pressing matter as there is an urgent need for change. The workshop was organized by Iceland Design and Architecture (Miðstöð hönnunar og arkitektúrs ), Architectures Association of Iceland (Arkitektafélagi Íslands) , EFLA, and Green Building Council Iceland in collaboration with the Federation of Icelandic Industries (Samtök iðnaðarins) , Reykjavik City (Reykjavíkurborg), and The Government Property Agency (FSRE) . Around forty important people from all of the value chain of the building industry took part in the workshop. There were representatives from real estate companies, contracting firms, engineering firms, institutions, architect firms and the government. The conclusion from the workshop was very clear: Compared to the neighboring countries, Iceland is behind when it comes to implementing circularity within the building industry and there is urgent need for change. What needs to be done? > New regulations for circularity. > A market square for used construction products. > A dynamic research center for the building industry. > Design new buildings with an emphasis on recycling and flexibility. > Redesign and reutilise older buildings. > A green incentive system for the building industry. > A strong collaboration between all stakeholders. It is clear that there is a great need for a focused conversation and collaboration across all invested parties. All participants at the workshop agreed on how important it is that the whole building industry unites in actions needed to implement a circular system across all fields of the industry. These issues are already being worked on in many parts of the field, but the entire chain must work together in order to ensure success. At the beginning of the meeting, participants got inspiring talks by Helle Redder Momsen, Head of Secretariat for the Nordic collaboration on Sustainable Construction in Denmark and Alexander van Leersum, director of Build to Impact in Rotterdam, Netherlands, who shared their experience of implementing circular systems in the building industry. Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, architect, and Áróra Árnadóttir, from Green Building Council Iceland, went over recent examples of sustainable projects in Iceland and what the current status is of the implementation of a circular system in the building industry in Iceland. After the workshop there was an open meeting in Gróska where guests got insight into this important conversation. A lively panel discussion was a part of the meeting. Participants in the panel were Borghildur Sturludóttir, head of department at Reykjavík’s planning office (Reykjavíkurborg ), Friðjón Sigurðsson, director of development at Reitir real estate, Halldór Eiríksson, director of Samark , Hermann Jónsson, director of HMS and Kristrún Tinna Gunnarsdóttir, director of strategy and sustainability at Íslandsbanki . The project Round Table for Circulation (Hringborg hringrásarinnar) is realised with support from the Askur research fund for construction .

Green Building Council's (Grænni byggð) events in 2022. 2022 Morning meeting - emission-free construction sites 15/12/2022 In this morning meeting, emission-free construction sites were discussed. There was a presentation on work package 4 in the Nordic Sustainable Construction project, which relates to emission-free construction sites. The Ministry of Infrastructure is responsible for that part of the project and is working on it in collaboration with Green Building Council Iceland (GBCI) and the Housing and Infrastructure Authority. GBCI's staff discussed the system boundaries of the site and solutions, but the emphasis was on discussions and a dialogue between stakeholders. The conversation was rich in knowledge, and therefore the discussion part of the morning meeting has been included in the published recording. Slides are available here . Morning meeting - The design process of the kindergarten in Urriðaholt 25/11/2022 At the meeting, Hulda Jónsdóttir , owner and architect at HJARK , presented the design process of the kindergarten in Urriðaholt. The presentation was in Icelandic. The kindergarten will be located at Holtsvegur 20 and will accommodate up to 120 children. The kindergarten's design process focused on ecological solutions, and Hulda, among other things, reviews this process considering the requirements of Nordic Swan Certification. The building will be made of cross-laminated timber (CLT) on concrete foundations. Reception of construction waste 25/11/2022 The Icelandic Industry Association (Samtök iðnaðarins ) and the Contractors' Association (Mannvirki – félag verktaka ) hosted a meeting on the reception of construction waste. You can find the recording here . The meeting was held in Icelandic. The heating supply - is there always enough? 17/11/2022 Samorka held a morning meeting on the heating utilities and the state of the geothermal resource and reserves. It was also reviewed how the government can support the sustainable development of heating systems. You can access the recording of the meeting here . Carbon footprint of construction - priorities and actions 16/11/2022 Landsvirkjun , Vegagerðin and Isavia , held an open meeting on the carbon footprint of construction and how to minimize it (including what actions are needed). You can access a recording of the meeting on the Facebook page of the event . 03/11/2022 Morning meeting - Design and implementation of Brákarborg This morning meeting discussed the design and implementation of the structure that won the Green Shovel in 2022 - the Brákarborg kindergarten in Reykjavík at Kleppsvegi 150-152, owned by the City of Reykjavík. Gyða Mjöll Ingólfsdóttir and Sólveig Ingimarsdóttir gave the presentation on behalf of the City of Reykjavík, and they both work in the construction and maintenance office of the City of Reykjavík. Gyða Mjöll is project manager for environmental affairs and Sólveig is project manager for new buildings and also project manager for construction. The presentation was given in Icelandic. There are many things that are exemplary in the reconstruction of Brákarborg. The goal setting of the project was ambitious, both in terms of the community activities and results in environmental matters. During design, a life cycle analysis was used and a comparison was made of the environmental impact of building materials, and the choice of materials was then based on the results. The building is BREEAM certified for design and construction, so the follow-up will confirm the sustainability goals. The building houses important social services, but the site can also be used by those who live in its immediate vicinity. The concrete structure was used continuously, and thus the carbon footprint of the building was kept to a minimum. Green Building Day 2022 30/09/2022 The annual Green Building Day was held in IÐNÓ this year on Friday, September 30, 2022. The event began with 12 interesting professional talks given by experts in sustainability in the construction sector. After the presentations, Ragnar Ómarsson, the Chairman of the GBCI board, gave the Green Shovel Award for the first time. Over 130 participants took part in the event. The event was held in Icelandic. The Facebook event can be found here. Agenda: Moderator : Kristjana Ósk Jónsdóttir → Byggjum grænni framtíð: Staða á aðgerðum á ábyrgð HMS sem eru komnar af stað (Þóra Margrét Þorgeirsdóttir, Team leader of the Innovation team , Húsnæðis- og mannvirkjastofnun); → Umhverfisvænasti fermeterinn - Sóknarfærin í samfélagslega ábyrgum rekstri eignasafns FSRE (Guðrún Ingvarsdóttir, CEO , Framkvæmdasýslan-Ríkiseignir); → Þegar núllið verður ætlunarverkið – vegferðin í átt að vistvænni steypuframkvæmdum (Sigríður Ósk Bjarnadóttir, Environmental affairs director, Hornsteinn); → Góðir hlutir gerast (of) hægt (Brynjólfur Bjarnason, Business manager and member of the sustainability committee, Íslandsbanki); → Nýr sjálfbærnisrammi í framkvæmdum (Jón Kolbeinn Guðjónsson, Head of the Faculty of Engineering, Isavia); → Sjálfbærnivegferðin hjá Regin. Hvernig náum við hámarks árangri sem fyrst (Helgi S. Gunnarsson, CEO, Reginn); → Viðbrögð við loftslagsbreytingum (Íris Þórarinsdóttir, Environmental manager, Reitir); → Ártúnshöfðinn - BREEAM vottað hverfi í Reykjavík (Ólöf Kristjánsdóttir from Mannvit – f.h. Reykjavíkurborgar ); → Lágmörkum lífsferilsáhrif virkjana (Jóhanna Hlín Auðunsdóttir, Director of Climate and Green Solutions, Landsvirkjun); → UAveiro green buildings – Dæmi um hringrásarhagkerfi í byggingariðnaði (Ragnar Ómarsson, Expert in the sustainability of structures, Verkís); → Hvernig skilar hönnun lægra vistspori í mannvirkagerð – dæmi frá EFLU (Þórhildur Fjóla Kristjánsdóttir, Energy and environmental engineer, EFLA); → Umhverfisvæn hús í Urriðaholti (Benedikt Ingi Tómasson, Executive director, Vistbyggð). Project meeting of the Nordic Sustainable Construction project in Oslo 07/09/2022 On September 7, the Nordic Sustainable Construction project meeting was held. Green Building Council Iceland is responsible for work package 4 (Emission-free Construction Sites), and the scope of the work package was presented at the meeting. More about the project can be found here . Byggjum grænni framtíð. Roadmap to green infrastructure 2030: Emissions, targets and actions 08/06/2022 On June 8, an event was held organized by Byggjum grænni framtíð about the publication of the 2nd and 3rd parts of the 2030 Environmental Roadmap . Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, Minister of Infrastructure, and Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, Minister of the Environment, Energy and Climate, addressed the guests. Áróra Árnadóttir, CEO of Green Building Council Iceland, and Þóra Margrét Þorgeirsdóttir, project manager of Byggjum grænni framtíð (Build a green future), gave a talk on the roadmap after the two ministers' speeches. The event was held in Icelandic. More information about the road map can be found here . The program can be found here . A recording of the event can be accessed here . Morning meetings 02-05/2022 The first meeting (16/02) was on green building certification systems. The presentations (in Icelandic ) can be found here: Svanurinn BREEAM The second meeting (16/03) was about the circular economy and was held in collaboration with KLAK Icelandic Startups. The presentations (in Icelandic ) can be found here: Hringiða Hringrásarbyggingar SORPA The third meeting (28/04) was combined with the Annual Green Building Council Iceland Meeting. Bridge engineer, Andri Gunnarsson, presented the example of using Icelandic timber in an outdoor bridge over the Þjórsá river. The presentation summary can be found in the meeting minutes (point 6; meeting minutes are in Icelandic ). The fourth meeting (18/05) was on the concrete. The presentation (in Icelandic ) can be found here: Hornsteinn Annual Green Building Council Iceland Meeting 28/04/2022 The Annual Green Building Council Iceland Meeting took place on 28th April at 15:00 in the Verkís lecture hall. In addition to the traditional general meeting activities, the following was on the agenda: → a new project manager introduced the CIRCON project; → the winning proposal from the idea competition for the Green Shovel prize was presented; → Andri Gunnarsson, bridge engineer at EFLA, presented the use of Icelandic timber in a bridge over Þjórsá river. Minutes of the general meeting can be found here (in Icelandic ). Forum on improved energy efficiency in buildings 31/03/2022 OR / Veitur and Green Building Council Iceland held a seminar on the responsible use of natural resources and reducing energy waste. Live video on Facebook can be found here . The event was held in Icelandic. Nordic GBC Webinar #5: Circular Economy in the Real Estate and Construction Sector 10/03/2022 The event was organised within Nordic Green Building Council Network and was held in English. Agenda: → On the importance of Circular Economy (Green Building Council Finland) ; → Introducing the Nordic Network for Circular Construction (Matti Kuittinen, Ministry of the Environment of Finland) ; → State of the Art Analysis on Circularity in the Nordic Construction Sector (Sabine Barth, WSP) ; → How to work with Circularity – New Handbook by the City of Copenhagen (Jens Runge, Chief consultant & head of sustainability) ; → Practical Examples from the Field : - Regional Circularity (Sigríður Ósk Bjarnadótti) ; - Reusing concrete slabs in commercial construction (Henning Fjeldheim, Skanska Norway) . Nordic GBC Webinar #5 Nordic GBC Webinar #4: Resilience and Climate Adaptation 19/01/2022 Live video hér : This webinar was organised within the Nordic Green Building Councils initiative in cooperation with IĐAN Educational Center. Experts in the Nordic countries educated us about the dangers posed by climate change in the Nordic context and climate adaptation of the built environment. The event was held in English. Agenda: → Climate changes in the Nordic countries - The IPCC report and how climate change will act out in the Nordic hemisphere (Dr Guðfinna Aðalgeirsdóttir, Professor of Geophysics, University of Iceland)) ; → Potential impact on the built environment and infrastructure - How the effects of climate change differ between regions (Miisa Tähkänen, Expert in a sustainable built environment, GBC Finland) ; → Scenario Analysis in Climate Related Risks & Opportunities - A scenario approach to baselines for assessment of actions towards resilience and climate adaption (Sigurður Freyr Jónatansson, Expert on financial stability, the Central Bank of Iceland) ; → Climate change adaption in a man-made environment : - Climate Adaption for urban rainwater & sewage systems (Dr Kim Haukeland Paus, Engineer, Asplan Viak) ; - Sankt Kjeld’s Square and Bryggervangen, a case study (Alexandra Vindfeld Hansen, Landscape architect and Head of SLA’s R&D division sLAB). Nordi GBC Webinr #4

Green Building Council's (Grænni byggð) events in 2023. 2025 Morning meeting: Frakkastígur 1 03/11/2025 The project on Frakkastígur 1 , owned by Iða fasteignaþróunarfélags and designed by Lendager Ísland, is another example of ambitious construction aiming to reduce the carbon footprint by 50% compared to conventional buildings. Do you want to hear more about how it was done and what the experiences and challenges were for the designer and material provider? Grænni byggð and the GBCI networking group on LCA held a morning meeting on 3. December at 9:00-10:00 on Zoom. Watch the recording below ⬇ Recording Morning meeting: Standards in the built environment - the knowledge in the standard 26/11/2025 GBCI and Icelandic Standards (IST) have joined forces to promote a sustainable construction industry - where standards play a key role. If you want to know more about: the importance of standards in a sustainable construction industry current and upcoming standards …and hear about the upcoming mirror committee with the European Technical Committee TC350, join us for a morning meeting on November 26th from 9-10 am on zoom. The Technical Committee TC350 discusses standards related to sustainability in the construction industry, with the subcommittee on the circular economy and working groups working on building simulation, construction, digital transformation, etc. The mirror committee will monitor the development of new standards and have the opportunity to influence their creation, in addition to receiving first-hand news from the standards world. At the meeting, Helga Sigrún Harðardóttir, Director of the Icelandic Standards, will bring us closer to the above topics and answer your questions at the end. The meeting will be moderated by Bergþóra Góa Kvaran . Recording Nordic Climate Forum for Construction 28/10/2025 On 28 October, Nordic stakeholders gathered at the Nordic Climate Forum for Construction in Copenhagen. The conference discussed practical steps towards a green transition in the construction industry. The conference focused on two topics: Life cycle assessments and how to make them more efficient, cost-effective and digital. Better utilisation of existing buildings and their reuse instead of new construction. The conference discussed the Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD) and new rules on the lifetime carbon footprint (GWP) of buildings in Europe, as well as sufficiency in connection with the increased emphasis that the European Commission intends to place on the utilisation of existing buildings in Europe. Representatives from the Nordic countries reported on progress and innovations in their countries, including Elín Þórólfsdóttir from HMS, who reported on, among other things, the new building regulations in Iceland and the digital LCA submission portal. Stakeholders from various countries and sectors reported on innovative projects related to digital solutions and building reuse. Discussion and ideas from the conference are a good starting point for the Nordic Sustainable Construction 2025–2027 project, which aims to promote a green transformation in the construction industry with a focus on circularity and digital solutions, among other things. More on NCFC Healthy Buildings Conference Series, Europe 2025 (HB 2025) 08/06/2025 - 11/06/2025 The European Regional Conference on Healthy Buildings was held in Reykjavík from 8 to 11 June. During these times of climate change, we must ensure that buildings do not harm the planet or the health of those who live in them. We need to focus on both the environment and people. In order to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings and promote sustainability, we need to combine diverse interdisciplinary knowledge. At the same time, we must ensure that indoor air is as safe and healthy as possible. The condition and design of buildings play a key role in shaping indoor air quality. The conference lasted three days and after the main program ended, a symposium was held for Icelandic professionals on 11 June at 13:00. HB 2025 Webpage HB 2025 Facebook page HB 2025 Event Icelandic symposium | Event Katarzyna Jagodzińska from Green Building Council Iceland gave a talk on New European Bauhaus at the end of the symposium and discussed how NEB can be used to improve the quality of buildings. A recording of the seminar can be found below. Recording Workshop: Can New European Bauhaus be the answer to the challenges Icelandic architecture and design face? 04/06/2025 A workshop on the New European Bauhaus concept was held on Wednesday, June 4th, at 9:30-11:00 in Fenjamýri in Gróska in collaboration with the Icelandic Association of Architects and GBCI. Elín Þórólfsdóttir gave a short talk about New European Bauhaus and Katarzyna Jagodzinska from Grænni byggð then took over and explained the ideology further. After that, the participants took part in a workshop where discussions took place in smaller groups and at the end the groups shared their ideas with the whole group. About 35 people participated and interesting and necessary discussions took place about sustainability, beauty and inclusion in the construction industry! Background Beauty and sustainability For several years now, there has been much discussion about sustainability in relation to Icelandic architecture and design, and the environmental impact has often dominated the discussion. However, social and aesthetic aspects are gaining more and more importance, as can be seen from the recent and ongoing discussion about the aesthetics of new Icelandic buildings. The question that arises most is whether it is possible to combine these three aspects - aesthetics, the social aspect and sustainability? New European Bauhaus (NEB) The idea of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) could answer this question, as it combines sustainability, beauty and inclusion in the construction industry. It defines these three aspects in a clearer and more practical way that is on the verge of being measurable. But what is the usefulness of NEB in the Icelandic context? Can NEB help solve the problems that Icelandic architecture and design are facing? What is New European Bauhaus? New European Bauhaus (NEB) is a policy and funding initiative that makes green transformation in the built environment – and beyond – attractive, enjoyable and accessible for all. Even the smallest communities have the right to a quality of life in spaces that enhance their well-being and sense of belonging. The project promotes solutions that are not only sustainable, but also inclusive and beautiful, while respecting the diversity of places, traditions and cultures in Europe and beyond. Niðurstöður Eftirfarandi eru niðurstöðurnar úr vinnustofunni . Þátttakendur röðuðu lykilatriðum innan þriggja aðalhluta NEB - sjálfbærni, fegurðar og inngildingar - eftir mikilvægi. Ítarlegri umfjöllun um niðurstöðurnar, auk niðurstaða úr annarri vinnustofu um NEB sem haldin var 11. júní á málþinginu Byggjum til framtíðar (Healthy Buildings 2025) kemur út í fréttabréfi Grænni byggðar í haust (skráðu þig á póstlista ). Við stefnum á að halda umræðunni um NEB á lífi áfram - fylgist með samfélagsmiðlunum okkar! Sjálfbærni: Tvö lykilatriði voru sett í efsta sæti í hlutanum um sjálfbærni, þó margir hópar hafi einnig talið mörg önnur lykilatriði mikilvæg: - Hringrásarhagkerfi í byggingargeiranum (S.9); - Að ná sem bestum grænum áhrifum opinbera geirans hvað varðar efnahagslega þátttöku hans í sjálfbærni byggða umhverfisins (S.7). Algengasta ástæðan fyrir því að Hringrásarhagkerfi í byggingargeiranum var valið var að hugtakið er margþætt og nær yfir mörg atriði, sem gerir það yfirgripsmikið og þar af leiðandi viðeigandi fyrir stóran hluta af hagsmunaaðilum byggingargeirans. Hóparnir lögðu einnig áherslu á mikilvægi þess að fjármálageirinn og opinberir aðilar taki þátt í sjálfbærni aðgerðum. Eftirfarandi tvö lykilatriði enduðu í neðstu sætunum: - Lágmarka umhverfisáhrif á loft og vatn sem ekki tengjast orku (S.5); - Lágmarka notkun jarðefnaeldsneytis í byggðu umhverfi (S.1). Ástæðan fyrir þessu var að samkvæmt þátttakendum hefur mikil áhersla þegar verið lögð á þessi atriði og fjölmargar aðgerðir nú þegar í gangi í tengslum við þau. Fegurð: Líkt og í sjálfbærni hlutanum voru tvö lykilatriði í efstu sætunum: - Að hámarka endingu og líftíma (B.6); - Að tryggja heilsu, þægindi og vellíðan íbúa (B.4), en Stafræn umbreyting í byggingariðnaði (B.1) var afgerandi sett í neðsta sæti. Margir hópar lögðu áherslu á mikilvægi þess að lengja líftíma bygginga og byggingarhluta, sem og mikilvægi þess að leggja meiri áherslu á vellíðan fólks í byggðu umhverfi (dagsbirta var til dæmis nefnd sem eitt af mikilvægustu atriðunum í þessu samhengi). Í tengslum við umræðu um að lengja endingu bygginga nefndu hóparnir einnig að hugarfarsbreyting væri nauðsynleg og að meðhöndla þurfi byggingar öðruvísi en aðrar neysluvörur sem er hent/breytt í samræmi við tískustrauma. Þegar kom að Stafrænni umbreytingu í byggingariðnaði þótti þátttakendum erfitt að sjá tengslin milli skilgreiningar NEB á fegurð og forsmíði bygginga og byggingarhluta, forsmíði virðist vera andstæða fegurðar, sérstaklega hvað varðar fagurfræði. Inngilding: Þessi hluti vinnustofunnar var mesta áskoruninn fyrir þátttakendur, en þeim fannst skorta sérhæfða þekkingu til þess að meta þessi atriði. Mörg atriði voru einnig talin nátengd og sum sköruðust við lykilatriði í hlutanum um fegurð. Tvö atriði voru samt sem áður metin mikilvægust í íslensku samhengi: - Hagkvæmni (e. affordability) (I.2); - Alhliða gæði, jafnrétti og aðgengi (I.3). Í tengslum við Hagkvæmni (e. affordability ) voru vandamál á íslenskum húsnæðismarkaði nefnd og áhrif þeirra á samfélagið í heild, en sérstaklega áhrif á viðkvæma hópa (t.d. hversu erfitt það er að eignast húsnæði á Íslandi). Alhliða gæði, jafnrétti og aðgengi var talið tengjast Hagkvæmni á beinan hátt sem og lengri endingu bygginga (þ.e. rétt viðhald rýma og þjónustu). Hér má finna ýtarlega skýrslu um NEB sem og tól sem hægt er að nota til þess að meta atriði úr NEB í eigin verkefnum. Dagur Grænni byggðar - GBCI Day 08/10/2025 Green Building Council Iceland Day was held at IÐNÓ on October 8! The program began at 1:00 PM and ended with the presentation of the Green Shovel at 5:00 PM. After that, drinks and snacks were served. Moderator was Sigríður Ósk Bjarnadóttir from Hornsteinn and board member of GBCI. This year's conference placed a special emphasis on the social aspects of sustainability - the well-being of users in the built environment. ✨Program ✨ 💡Keynote speaker: Natalia Olszewska 💡 🏡 Natalia Olszewska is a doctor and also holds an MSc degree. She is passionate about health-oriented design and the creation of environments that support health and well-being. With this goal in mind, she specializes in utilizing neuroscience and psychology in architecture and building design, basing her work on a deep understanding of physiology and medicine. 📖 Natalia has a unique interdisciplinary background, with degrees in medicine, neuroscience, and neuroscience in architecture, as well as research at Harvard University and the Collège de France. ✏ Natalia is one of the founders of IMPRONTA, a research and consulting firm focused on the science behind design that focuses on health and well-being. She has worked on architectural projects around the world that have in common the design of buildings to support cognitive, emotional, and social development. 👩🏫 Natalia teaches Neuroscience in Architecture at IUAV University in Venice. All of her work is based on the belief that architecture should do more than just serve its basic purpose and should fulfill our deepest biological, emotional, and social needs. She lectures and writes on the connections between health, neuroscience, and the built environment. 💡 Lecture: The healing power of nature – landscape design with an emphasis on recovery - Íris Reynisdóttir, Efla💡 🏗 The built environment and its inhabitants are diverse, landscape architecture works in an interdisciplinary way to create green spaces for different user groups. The talk discusses how the team of landscape architects at Efla approaches their projects to create a healthy environment for all. 💡 Lecture: The present and future of daylight in Icelandic buildings - Ásta Logadóttir, Lota💡 🏗 Light has a direct impact on health, vision and our experience of spaces. In the lecture, Ásta Logadóttir, team leader at LOTU, discusses the state of daylight in Icelandic buildings and RB blöð connected to it. 💡 Lecture: Energy classification of houses in Iceland - Björn Marteinsson💡 🏗 Presentation of the activities of the working group organized by HMS regarding the energy classification of residential buildings in Iceland and ongoing work regarding the energy classification of other types of buildings. 💡 Lecture: Action Plan Building a Greener Future - new actions - Elín Þórólfsdóttir, HMS 💡 🏗 The latest actions in the Action Plan Building a Greener Future will be presented. They support the goals of carbon neutrality, circular economy, sustainability in the construction sector and the implementation of nature-based solutions. 💡 Lecture: New hotel site rises with sustainability at the forefront - Berglind Ósk Ólafsdóttir, Reitir 💡 🏗 Reitir is currently building a HYATT hotel at Laugavegur 176. The talk will discuss how sustainability has been integrated into the design, construction and future operation of the hotel on this historic building site at Laugavegur 176. 💡 Lecture: Less waste and more value creation - Emilía Borgþórsdóttir, Húsasmiðjan 💡 🏗 Húsasmiðjan has worked diligently to improve processes within its operations, which promotes the renewal of materials and the value creation of building materials. In the talk, the sustainability project manager at Húsasmiðjan will discuss how sustainability is used in innovation within the company. 🗣 Panel: User Well-being in the Built Environment - The Biggest Challenge of Our Time 🗣 🏗 The panel will include experts and representatives from various stakeholders within the construction industry. Confirmed panelists are Páll Jakob Líndal from ENVALYS and Reykjavík University, Guðrún Ragna Yngvadóttir from ASK Architects, Guðrún Álfheiður Thorarensen from EIK and Ingvi Jónasson from Klasi. Moderator of panel discussion is Anna Sigríður Jóhannsdóttir, architect and board member of GBCI. Opening: New European Bauhaus in an Icelandic context 21/08/2025 Green Building Council Icelands thanks everyone for coming to the opening of the exhibition New European Bauhaus in an Icelandic Context in Arctic Space on August 21st! The exhibition introduces the concept of New European Bauhaus (NEB) and places special emphasis on its applicability in the Icelandic context. The history, development and background of the NEB concept are reviewed, as well as the main elements, values and working principles related to NEB are explained. Examples of Icelandic projects that follow the values and working principles of NEB are also shown. New European Bauhaus is a concept that promotes solutions in construction, architecture and design that are not only sustainable but also inclusive and beautiful. Could NEB help us solve the problems that Icelandic architecture and design are facing? What aspects of the NEB concept can we use in architecture and design in Iceland? All are welcome to view the exhibition during Arctic Space opening hours: Fri : 15:00 - 18:00 | Sat : 13:00 - 16:00 or by appointment by sending an email to info@arcticspace.is Arctic Space Visit to Urriðaból - 2024 Green Shovel Award winner 23/05/2025 On May 23, Green Building Council Iceland and HJARK hosted a visit for GBCI members to Urriðaból preschool in Garðabær, the winner of the Green Shovel Award in 2024. During the visit, Hulda Jónsdóttir from HJARK, the main designer and design manager of the building, walked with participants through the building in its entirety and talked about the design process, the construction, the certification process and more. The participants then had the opportunity to ask questions and gain valuable insight into various aspects of the design process. Information about Urriðaból can be found on our website under Green shovel. Thank you to those that came on the visit and to Hulda for an interesting introduction! GBCI General Meeting 2025 29/04/2025 Green Building Council Iceland general meeting was held on Tuesday, April 29th at 3:00 PM in the HMS offices in Borgartún. All member companies of GBCI were invited to the meeting and there was a good turnout. Traditional general meeting business was carried out in addition to elections for three board seats. The following were elected to the GBCI board: Alex Ingi Espersen, structural engineer at COWI Anna Sigríður Jóhannsdóttir, architect FAÍ Bergþóra Góa Kvaran, specialist at the Icelandic Environment and Energy Agency Alex and Bergþóra are new members of the board and Anna Sigríður is re-elected. Anna Kristín Hjartardóttir, Elín Þórólfsdóttir, Sigríður Ósk Bjarnadóttir and Sunna Hrönn Sigmarsdóttir have a mandate for one more year and will therefore remain on the board. Íris Þórarinsdóttir and Alexander Helgason are stepping down from the board and we would like to thank them very much for their good work. The annual report and financial statements for GBCI's operations in 2024 can be found under Documentation on the website. In addition to the traditional general meeting activities, GBCI staff gave short presentations on two exciting projects that GBCI is working on. Aðalsteinn and Ástrós presented new guidelines for emission-free construction sites that are intended to be useful to all those who want to reduce emissions from construction sites. The brochures with the guidelines can be found under Publications - Emission-free Workshops on the website. Katarzyna spoke about the New European Bauhaus concept and GBCI's role in the Bauhaus Goes North project. Morning meeting - Car cellars or parking garages: impact, hindrances and future visions 25/02/2025 Green Building Council Iceland held a morning meeting on February 25th at 9:00 AM about parking garages and car cellars. The meeting consisted of two presentations and a panel discussion. Over 90 people attended the meeting, which was live streamed. Recordings of the presentations and panel discussions can be found below. Thanks for coming! Carbon-neutral Reykjavík 2030: development and climate impact - Hrönn Hrafnsdóttir and Herdís Sigurgrímsdóttir , City of Reykjavík Hrönn and Herdís presented a project that recently began at the City of Reykjavík and revolves around revolutionizing residents' choices of transportation and how different parking solutions hinder or facilitate changes in transportation habits in the city. One of the questions the project aims to answer is: will car cellars change our transportation habits or solidify the car as our primary mode of transportation? Parking garages and Borgarlína in Keldnaland - Þorsteinn R. Hermannsson , Betri Samgöngur ohf. Þorsteinn presented a proposal for the development of a new district at Keldur and Keldnaholt with three Borgarlína stations, which envisages the construction of several parking garages in the area. The parking garages, each of which will be shared by a number of apartments and commercial buildings on nearby plots, will largely replace private basements and private parking on plots. It is intended that the buildings can accommodate central services for the adjacent area on the ground floor and that they can be converted into commercial or residential premises if the need for parking decreases in the future. Panel discussion The panel included: Elín Þórólfsdóttir, team leader from Húsnæðis- and mannvirkjastofnun Borghildur Sölvey Sturludóttir , architect and head of the department of local planning, City of Reykjavik. Ólafur Árnason , Director, Icelandic Planning Agency. Íris Þórarinsdóttir, the chair of the board of Green Building Council Iceland, was the meeting moderator. Upptaka Upptaka Upptaka Small steps, big impact – reducing the environmental effect of the construction industry 03/04/2025 In connection with DesignMarch, the Icelandic Association of Architects, in collaboration with Green Building Council Iceland, Húsnæðis- og mannvirkjastofnun, Miðstöð hönnunar og arkitektúrs and Viska union, held a symposium on eco-friendly construction. The symposium was also supported by Starfsþróunarsetur háskólamanna. One of the keynote speakers at the symposium, architect Sinus Lynge , is one of the founders of EFFEKT design studio. His vision is to reconnect people with nature through good design in a broad sense. EFFEKT is also one of the founders of the non-governmental organization Reduction Roadmap , which has published a roadmap of the same name. Sinus Lynge presented the philosophy behind the roadmap, which is very ambitious and also shows how much emissions from construction need to be reduced in order to meet the requirements of the Paris Agreement. The other keynote speaker was Harpa Birgisdóttir, Professor and Head of the Department of Sustainable Buildings at Aalborg University. She has worked on developing software that calculates the ecological footprint of buildings, research that has supported the implementation of legislation regarding the ecological footprint of buildings, and research that shows what actions are needed to ensure that buildings do not exceed planetary boundries. Elín Þórólfsdóttir , architect MAA , MA in environmental and resource science and team leader at HMS, then discussed Vegvísir að vistvænni mannvirkjagerð (roadmap for sustainable construction) , the achievements made and the next steps. She also discussed life cycle assessments (LCA) in regulations, how they are implemented in Iceland and what impact they have on the construction industry. After the lectures, a panel discussion took place, with the following members of the panel: Sinus Lynge, speaker Harpa Birgisdóttir, speaker Elín Þórólfsdóttir, speaker Logi Einarsson, Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education Borghildur Sturludóttir, architect and Department Head at City Planning in Reykjavik Municipality Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, architect and Icelands representative in the Venice Biennale in Architecture Sigríður Ósk Bjarnadóttir, engineer og CEO of the Environment and Quality Department at Hornsteinar Andri Snær Magnason, writer and environmentalist Morning meeting: the benefits of the maintenance of embodied carbon in real estates 24/01/2025 Green Building Council Iceland recently held a morning meeting in collaboration with Iðun fræðslusetur and Verkís , about the benefits of maintaining embedded carbon in real estate. Real estate maintenance is rarely discussed in the context of reducing carbon emissions. Much more is discussed about the economic feasibility of maintenance measures. Ólafur Ástgeirsson , leader of the construction and civil engineering sectors at Iðan, opened the meeting and welcomed the audience. Ragnar Ómarsson, structural engineer and business manager for sustainability at Verkís, then gave a lecture and discussed among other things how reducing carbon emissions and cost efficiency can go hand in hand, what it means to maintain embedded carbon, what the rescue value of buildings is and how it is calculated. There was a good turnout at the meeting, which was livestreamed. A recording of the meeting will be available here shortly. Visit to Landsbankinn 23/01/2025 Members of Green Building Council Iceland were invited to visit the Landsbankin's new building at Reykjastræti 6 on 23. January. The building was nominated for the Green shovel award in 2024 and has a BREEAM certification for example. Attendees got a lecture on the history of the building and construction, design, use, certification process and more. After that attendees were invited to walk through the building with a guide. Thank you to Landsbankinn for inviting us!