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
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:
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:
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:
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 #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).