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About the CIRCON project. About the project The CIRCON project (full name: The circular economy in construction: eco-design of circular buildings) was realised by Green Building Council Iceland (GBCI) in cooperation with two Polish partners – a mirror to GBCI organisation Polish Green Building Council and the Silesian University of Technology. The project lasted 2 years (01/04/2022-31/03/2024). Overview The urban population is growing globally, and so does the demand for housing and accommodation. This means the growing intensity of construction-related activities and, consequently, increasing construction and demolition waste (C&DW) generation. This calls for action as, currently, C&DW already comprises one of the largest waste streams in the EU and Iceland. Even though C&DW recovery rates are high, their recovery leaves room for improvement as it is predominantly low-grade (for instance, backfilling). To preserve the value of construction materials and thus keep them on the market as long as possible, the implementation of circular economy principles in the construction sector is necessary. This would result in reducing the amount of not only C&DW produced but also the raw materials used. Building materials are responsible for around half of the carbon footprint of an Icelandic building during its lifetime. Doing so requires developing solid and systematised knowledge of circular economy principles regarding construction processes. This is why, in the CIRCON project, we aimed to create practical guidelines, emphasising circular building design as everything starts with the plan and design. These guidelines included the specificity of Icelandic and Polish construction sectors and were disseminated among the key stakeholders in the sectors. This was done to familiarise the key actors with optimal building design regarding not only buildings' longevity and durability but also their sustainability and material circulation through possible reusing of building components after its deconstruction. Main objectives The project aimed to strengthen the implementation of circular economy principles in the Icelandic and Polish construction sectors through: 1. Creation of practical guidelines on circular economy implementation in building design, including Icelandic and Polish market characteristics, needs, and specific Icelandic geographical and resource conditions. 2. Dissemination of the above guidelines among key stakeholders in the construction sector. The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. More about the project Project partners Newsletter CIRCON vefsíðu Information on EEA and Norway Grants The EEA and Norway Grants represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway towards a green, competitive and inclusive Europe. There are two overall objectives: reduction of economic and social disparities in Europe, and to strengthen bilateral relations between the donor countries and 15 EU countries in Central and Southern Europe and the Baltics. The three donor countries cooperate closely with the EU through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). The donors have provided €3.3 billion through consecutive grant schemes between 1994 and 2014. For the period 2014-2021, the EEA and Norway Grants amount to €2.8 billion. The priorities for this period are: #1 Innovation, Research, Education and Competitiveness #2 Social Inclusion, Youth Employment and Poverty Reduction #3 Environment, Energy, Climate Change and Low Carbon Economy #4 Culture, Civil Society, Good Governance and Fundamental Rights #5 Justice and Home Affairs Eligibility for the Grants mirror the criteria set for the EU Cohesion Fund aimed at member countries where the Gross National Income (GNI) per inhabitant is less than 90% of the EU average. The EEA and Norway Grants scheme consists of two financial mechanisms. The EEA Grants are jointly financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, whose contributions are based on their GDP. Norway Grants are financed solely by Norway. More information can be found on: https://eeagrants.org/ Information on co-funding by the national funding of Poland The co-funding from the Polish state was granted to the project within the program: Environment, Energy and Climate Change , program area: Climate .

Bauhaus Goes North (BGN) About the project The Bauhaus Goes North (BGN) project is realised by the Green Building Council Iceland together with 13 partners and associated partners from the Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA) region. The project received funding from the Interreg NPA Programme , co-funded by the European Union. The project aims to increase stakeholders' knowledge and facilitate the implementation of best practices that align with the New European Bauhaus (NEB) in the NPA region. The project's main focus are practices linked to circularity and resource efficiency. The NEB initiative was launched to make the European Green Deal a 'tangible experience' - offering a new cultural approach for Europe, a systemic change that is innovative, attractive, and human-centred. It has three core values guiding it: Sustainability (circularity, zero pollution, biodiversity) Aesthetics (quality of experience, style beyond functionality) Inclusion (valuing diversity, securing accessibility and affordability) Deliverables The project will deliver: a Co-Design Playbook and a Replicability Index tool aiming to ensure the replicability of identified best NEB practices, considering local contexts, competencies, capacity building and policy for supporting the transition to circular and resource-efficient economies; three annual Calls for Best Practices in NEB in the NPA Region , which aim to accelerate take-up of replicable solutions; four jointly developed demonstrator projects (i.e., a district plan, a campus and a historic building, and a sustainable island development) to illustrate the practical implementation of NEB aspects in diverse settings and contexts. Project website Overview Green Building Council Iceland is responsible for Work Package 2 (WP2) in the project: NEB Best Practices Competition: Assembling and Disseminating Exemplary Cases in the NPA Region. The main objective of WP2 is to identify best practices aligning with NEB in the NPA region. This will be done through three annual calls. The chosen winning and front-running practices will be highlighted on the Project website and circulated among various Nordic and European networks to disseminate them effectively. Eventually, the identified best practices will be a part of one of the project outcomes – the so-called Co-Design Playbook. Project partners are as follows: University College Cork , Cork, Ireland; Green Building Council Iceland , Reykjavík, Iceland; OULU University of Applied Science , Oulu, Finland; UIT The Arctic University of Norway , Tromsø, Norway; City of Bodø , Bodø, Norway; Umeå University , Umeå, Sweden; Cork County Council , Cork, Ireland. In the project, we also have 7 associated partners from Denmark, Finland, Faroe Islands, Ireland, and Sweden. Partners The BGN project's total budget is €1,632,526.95, and it benefits from € 1,019,056.94 in Interreg NPA co-financing, including 7.59% of funding covered by the European Regional Development Fund for Icelandic partners (ERDF_IS). The ERDF_IS funding amounts to € 123,930.30.

Green Building Council Iceland's materials on other topics than construction and demolition waste or certification systems. Other published materials On this page you can find reports that GBCI has published or been involved in the publication process of. Click the reports to read them. 2025 Nettó Núll - Carbon neutral construction in Icelandic conditions 2024 Nordic Circularity Accelerator Recommendations on how to expedite circular construction nationally, in the Nordics and in Europe. Nordic Networks for Circular Construction Policy patways for fostering circular transition in construction in the Nordic Region 2021 Parents and children's travel habits to kindergarten (in Icelandic) 2020 Let's build a greener future (Byggjum grænni framtíð) - Summary of the state of environmental issues in the construction industry in the Nordic countries (in Icelandic) 2019 The Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Umhverfis- og auðlindaráðuneytið )granted GBCI a grant to prepare guidelines for apartment buildings that want to promote more environmentally friendly priorities in their operations. The guidelines were drawn up in collaboration with Sorpa and Eignaumsjón . The guidelines can be read below (in Icelandic). A greener apartment building (in Icelandic) Overview of energy consumption, energy prices and energy requirements for heating in Icelandic buildings (in Icelandic) LCA - Environmental impact of buildings and building materials from cradle to grave (in Icelandic) Environmental description of building materials (in Icelandic) Environmentally friendly building in the Icelandic context (in Icelandic) 2013-2017 Material quality - an overview of common building materials, their properties and main environmental aspects (in Icelandic) Housing and health - the health effects of buildings and the benefits of green buildings (in Icelandic) Ecological urban planning (in Icelandic)

Information on LCA and LCC. Life cycle assessment (LCA) Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate a product or service's local and global environmental impact over its lifetime or "from cradle to grave". More precisely, the overall environmental impact is analysed, so the one occurring at all stages of the ecosystem or across the entire value chain, i.e. due to the acquisition of raw materials, production, use and disposal. The framework and methodology of performing LCA for buildings are presented in the EN 15978 standard (Sustainability of construction works - Assessment of environmental performance of buildings - Calculation method). According to the standard, the LCA results are presented for five main phases, and each phase is identified with a letter and serial number: The following software can, for example, be used to create an LCA for buildings: One Click LCA - Simple LCA calculations in the design phase of buildings Danish LCAbyg - From Denmark: Statens Byggeforskningsinstitut, Aalborg Universitet Copenhagen Green Delta’s OpenLCA – From GreenDelta in Berlin, Germany Life cycle costing (LCC) Often, Life-cycle costing (LCC) is performed together with LCA. LCC is used to analyseall the costs incurred during the asset's lifetime (e.g., product, service, building). The considered costs are, among others, purchase costs and costs associated with that (e.g., delivery or installation costs), operation costs (e.g., energy or fuel costs, maintenance costs), and end-of-life costs (e.g., disposal or recycling costs). LCC can also include the asset's residual value, so potential revenue from its reuse or sale.

Past events - 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 Iceland's materials on certification systems. Certification systems 2023 Green Building Council Iceland published the reports: 1) The impact of building materials and energy efficiency on the carbon footprint of buildings - Comparison of the carbon footprint of building materials and energy consumption in BREEAM certified and non-certified buildings (Áhrif byggingarefna og orkunýtingar á kolefnisspor bygginga - Samanburður á kolefnisspori byggingarefna og orkunotkunar í BREEAM vottaðri og óvottaðri byggingu) and 2) Stakeholder experiences with certification systems - Interviews with the construction industry (Reynsla hagaðila að vistvottunarkerfum - Viðtöl við byggingariðnaðinn). The reports were written in cooperation with the Housing and Construction Authority (HMS), with a grant from the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate, and are a part of action 5.2.1 in Vegvísir að vistvænni mannvirkjagerð 2030 (roadmap to sustainable construction) : Analysing the benefit and cost of environmental certifications. Click on the reports below to read. 2019-2020 GBCI worked together with the Icelandic Civil Engineering Agency (Mannvirkjastofnun) on a research project on the certification system of buildings. Two certification systems were chosen for research - BREEAM and Swan. The project goal was to carry out tests and instructions on the systems and to study how they adapt to the conditions in the Icelandic construction market. The reports can be read below. BREEAM certification scheme for buildings - Brochure (in Icelandic) BREEAM 2016 Energy requirements and the experience of meeting them in Icelandic projects (in Icelandic) BREEAM - Visual comfort (in Icelandic) BREEAM quality and environmental management - The requirements and how they have been met in Iceland (in Icelandic) The experience of the environmental certification Swan for buildings - Part I General review (in Icelandic) BREEAM In-Use (in Icelandic) BREEAM Construction materials and waste - The requirements and how they have been fulfilled in Iceland (in Icelandic) Transport and land use requirements in BREEAM international 2016 (in Icelandic) BREEAM Building materials - Introductory brochure on the requirements (in Icelandic) The experience of the environmental certification The Swan for buildings - Part II The rating system (in Icelandic) The annexe can be found here (in Icelandic). Environmental certification system for buildings - analysis of the feasibility and adaptability of foreign certification systems for the Icelandic construction market (in Icelandic)

Newsletter 16.06.2023 Helsinki Central Library Oodi The CIRCON compendium includes over 25 case descriptions representing circular construction aspects in practice. One is the Helsinki Central Library Oodi, an example of the design-for-adaptability principle combined with high sharing potential. The building’s structure has a form of an asymmetrical bridge consisting of steel trusses and beams supported by two massive steel arches. This solution resulted in a column-free interior space with high spatial flexibility and adaptability. As a result, the space has a unique, inclusive vibe attracting hundreds of visitors every day. Currently, it is used as, among others, a library, a conference and exhibition venue, a co-working space, a photo and recording studio, an office space, or a café and restaurant. More information about the building can be found here . The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 23.05.2023 Lecture on the circular economy in the construction sector We had the pleasure of giving a lecture to the students from Aalto University in Finland on circular construction. Besides discussing the general overview of the aspects of circular economy in the construction sector (e.g., design-for-adaptability or design-for-disassembly), we also tried to debunk some myths about circular construction – is it always more expensive than conventional construction or are all aspects of the circular economy always related to lower carbon footprint? We’ll discuss these issues further also in our meetings organised in the future. The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 10-11.05.2023 Partners' meeting in Poland Last year, in August, our Polish partners in the CIRCON project visited us in Iceland. Now it was our turn, and we went to Poland for our partners’ meeting last week. As we’re in the second part of the project already, we not only discussed our further steps but also celebrated our progress so far. We also had an opportunity to take a closer look at many old industrial buildings preserved as a part of the cultural heritage of the Silesian region in Poland. In the photo, you have an example of a multi-family house initially designed for industrial workers, typical for the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century in the industrial towns of Silesia. The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 28.04.2023 Second work package is completed By the end of April, the second work package in the CIRCON project will be completed. Recently, we had two working group meetings at which we predominantly discussed barriers (with their possible solutions) in implementing circular construction in Iceland. The outcome of these discussions will be published in the upcoming months. But maybe you have some ideas on how to facilitate circular construction and want to share them? The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 27.04.2023 Green Leap in Iceland’s construction sector 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 . The recording of the meeting can be found here . The event was organised by Húsnæðis- og mannvirkjastofnun with Samtök iðnaðarins and Green Building Council Iceland. The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 08.12.2022 Last CIRCON meeting in 2022 At the last meeting within CIRCON this year, we discussed the first draft of the compendium of knowledge with our partners - Polish Green Building Council and Silesian University of Technology . But now, as Christmas is closer and closer, we want to wish you all the best over the holidays. See you in 2023! The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 01.12.2022 Nordic Circular Summit Despite the break in our meetings in the CIRCON project, we are not sleeping. Last week we participated in #NordicCircularSummit – the biggest conference on circular economy in the Nordics organised in beautiful Stockholm. There were so many insightful presentations regarding circular construction that it is hard to mention them here. For those who could not attend, keep an eye on the event’s website – presentations should be uploaded in the nearest weeks. But two blunt end messages need to stay with us: 👉🏻As Kari Herlevi from Sitra said: “It is not just about maximising value; it is about reducing the negative impacts and then moving on to being nature positive ”, and, following Nancy Bocken from Maastricht University: “There is no business to be done on a dead planet, so focus on regeneration! ”.👈🏻 Last but not least, the next #NordicCircularSummit 2023 will be in Reykjavik! The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 31.10.2022 First work package is completed With the end of October, the first work package in the CIRCON project is completed. As the last part of the first work package, we had two working group meetings at which we discussed the created circularity indicators, which will be a part of the primary project outcome - guidelines on the circular design. The proposed circular indicators 🏠 take into account the following: - the amount of secondary materials used in the construction or renovation process; - the amount of waste reduced during the demolition or renovation process; - building's adaptability and disassembly potential; - the potential for sharing space; - building's energy efficiency. The guidelines with the circularity indicators should be published at the latest in summer 2023. The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 05.08.2022 Our visit in Drangar As a part of our partners' meeting in Iceland, we visited one of the rare European examples of rural buildings redefined and reconstructed in the spirit of the circular economy - Drangar. Drangar, located in Skógarströnd, is a complex of former farm buildings (a tractor shed, a cowshed, a farmhouse, and a barn) built in the 1980s and operating as such until 2001. After 12 years of falling into disrepair, the new owners brought it back to a new life by cooperating with architects from Studio Granda. Now, the buildings serve as guesthouses (former tractor shed and cowshed) and private accommodation (former barn and farmhouse). * Myndin að neðan: Dawid Franke. Preserving the character of the buildings' was the idea standing behind the renovation. That is why the primary structure, the shape, and arrangement of windows and doors, were kept. Furthermore, even though some of the roofs had to be replaced, they were not wasted. Their elements were used - the corrugated tin was used as shuttering for new concrete walls, and the timber structure was transformed into solid dining tables. The floor in the cowshed, crossed by concrete slats and steel grills, was replaced by a terrazzo floor, while the concrete slats and the steel grills were used as terrace paving and headboards in the guestrooms, respectively. Last but not least, most of the existing concrete walls remained. The materials preservation involved not only the construction materials themselves. For landscaping, earth from the site was used. Also, the manure from the cowshed was used as a fertiliser around the property in the owners' ambitious forestry project, currently scoring at around 50,000 trees and seedlings planted. The last stage of the project was renovating the old farmhouse, which was designed solely by the Drangar owners, naturally using the remaining materials left from the previous renovations. So now, only one non-restored element in Drangar – is a hay tower from the 1950s. When asked about it, one of the owners said, 'every respected guesthouse or hotel needs to have an old ruin, so we also have one'. This, however, does not mean the end of the Drangar project, as the owners are full of energy and motivation to continue developing their premises. More information about Drangar: Home The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 04.08.2022 Partners' meeting in Iceland After a short summer break, CIRCON started again. We started with a partners' meeting in Iceland. At the meeting, we discussed data on the Polish and Icelandic construction sectors collected so far. We also discussed real-life examples of implementing circular economy principles in construction and the main project outcome - the compendium of knowledge. Eventually, we planned our further steps. The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 15.07.2022 July's partners' meeting Even during summer CIRCON team does not rest. Today we had a partners’ meeting with PLGBC Polish Green Building Council and the Silesian University of Technology. We discussed a draft version of the circularity indicators, which will be part of the main project’s outcome – guidelines on the circular design of buildings. The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 15.06.2022 Time for a summer break – three working group meetings already behind us On 15th June 2022, we met for the third time and intensively discussed existing circularity indicators found in the open literature (and there are many of them - around 30!). We also tried to formulate the main criteria that should be considered when assessing circularity in the Icelandic context. And now it’s time for the summer holidays! The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 15.06.2022 Can the circular economy help solve the Icelandic construction sector’s challenges? The construction sector is facing increasing pressure due to the urgent need for more housing available in the capital area and the inevitability of the transition to circular and sustainable solutions. Can CIRCON contribute to easing this burden? A small piece of information was published regarding that in Frettabladid under the link: Link The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 07.06.2022 Our second working group meeting On 7th June 2022, we met for the second time. This time we discussed the role of different stakeholders in implementing circular economy principles in the construction and at which stage of building life implementing them has the highest potential. Eventually, as there is no universal definition of a circular building, we debated what it really means that a building is circular. The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 25.05.2022 The first working group meeting is behind us On 25st May 2022, our working group of experts representing the cross-section of the Icelandic construction sector met for the first time. We discussed the importance of implementing a circular economy in the construction sector, the main obstacles/challenges related to that and how we can accelerate the transformation of the sector into a more circular one. In the photo, you can see our views on the primary motivations for circular economy implementation in the construction sector. Can you think of any other one? The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213. 04.05.2022 A new project on circular economy started in GBCI On 1st April 2022, GBC Iceland launched a new project on circular economy CIRCON - The circular economy in construction: eco-design of circular buildings. The project will be realised for 2 years with two Polish partners - the Polish Green Building Council and the Silesian University of Technology. The CIRCON project benefits from a € 361,422 grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants and co-funding by the national funding of Poland. Co-funding from the Polish state amounts to € 54,213.

Green Building Council's (Grænni byggð) events in 2023. Upcoming events Past events - 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 Iceland's publications on construction and demolition waste (C&DW). Construction and demolition waste 2022 GBCI received a grant from the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate through the Housing and Infrastructure Agency to work on the mapping and preparation of guidelines on the possibilities of using construction waste. The project is part of action 4.2. in the Icelandic roadmap to ecological construction (Byggjum grænni framtíð) . GBCI got VSÓ Ráðgjöf on board to do the analysis. The results of the research project can be seen below (in Icelandic). Planning and guidance on the utilization potential of construction waste 2019 In cooperation with the celandic Civil Engineering Agency (Mannvirkjastofnun ), Green Building Council Iceland (GBCI) launched the project on the preparation of guidelines for the handling of construction and demolition waste. GBCI and Mannvirkjastofnun were responsible for project management, and the project was realised in cooperation with EFLA , VSÓ Consulting , and Verkís . The project results can be seen below. The circular economy and the construction industry (in Icelandic) The guidelines for the management of construction and demolition waste (in Icelandic) Construction and demolition waste mapping (in Icelandic) The assessment of hazardous substances in construction and demolition waste and a plan for their treatment (in Icelandic)

Information on Byggjum grænni framtíð (Let's build greener future - Icelandic roadmap to sustainable construction). Byggjum grænni framtíð - Roadmap towards sustainable construction Following Iceland's climate action plan , the public road map towards sustainable construction was introduced as a result of a joint project between the government and construction sector stakeholders (Byggjum grænni framtíð - Let's build a greener future), including the Green Building Council Iceland. The road map includes goals and a set of actions to reduce the carbon emissions of construction activities. The actions are divided into six main categories: Building materials. Construction stage. Building use stage. End of life stage. Planning and design. Incentives and other means to encourage change. The project management board consists of representatives from the Green Building Council Iceland, the Industry Association , the Road Administration , the Environment Agency , the Union of Icelandic Municipalities , the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the Housing and Construction Authority (HMS). Elín Þórólfsdóttir from HMS is the project manager. More information can be found on the BGF website .

Some EPDs on paints in Iceland. Environmental product declarations (EPDs) - Paints in Iceland JOTUN Jotun Heftgrunning Universal JOTUN Jotun Lady Pure Color JOTUN Jotun Sparkel Fin Gipsplate JOTUN Jotun Jotaproff Akryl 10% JOTUN Jotun Pilot WF Primer JOTUN Jotun Sparkel Vegg & Tak medium JOTUN Jotun Jotaproff Primadekk JOTUN Jotun Prosjektsparkel JOTUN Jotun Trebitt Oljebeis

Green Building Council's (Grænni byggð) events in 2022. Past events - 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