SVEBY – how to agree on energy goals

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When working in the MountEE project we have revealed shortcomings in the planning and construction process between facility owners and contractors. In a complex building processes, it is quite common that energy goals are not achieved because the actors lack common standards to work on.  Using the Swedish Sveby – process we try to overcome this problem.

Recently a number of major Swedish companies and associations in the construction industry have developed practices and guidelines for energy calculation and verification in building projects in the so-called SVEBY program. This standard describes how energy calculations, agreements and verifications must be carried out in order to create credibility and acceptance between the parties in construction process. The SVEBY’s program ensures that agreed energy goals can be met throughout the project.

The program consists of three steps: an agreement on energy requirements, an identification of the users impact on energy use and a final analysis and verification of energy use when the construction is completed. Especially the verification part is well developed with a structured follow-up running over a number of years after the completion of the building.

Sveby-process

Since the SVEBY model resembles parts of the service package produced by Umweltverband Voralberg and it is logical that MountEE – Dalarna shows great interest in using the program. The idea is that we introduce and test the programs in the MountEE pilots. A first workshop has recently been arranged together the Building Dialogue Dalarna. 40 participants from municipalities, housing companies, consults and experts participated in a training day with several deep dives into calculations and discussions.

The lecturer, Per Levin from SVEBY, was in the final debate asked a number of questions:

  • Does  SVEBY offer a fully structured system for energy efficiency in the building process?
  • Can SVEBY be used to assure energy goals throughout building projects?
  • Does SVEBY help to clarify the building actors’ roles and responsibilities?

“I can answer yes to all the statements,” answers the lecturer Per Levin. “The program was developed for apartment buildings and offices and within the MountEE pilots we will have the possibility to test in on schools.  It will be interesting  and exciting to be part of this work” continues Per.

The SWEBY- workshop was very appreciated and will be repeated in autumn 2013 with special focus on consults and contractors. Svebys materials are free for use and can be downloaded from www.sveby.org

Åke Persson (Dalarna Länsstyrelsen)

Author: Åke Persson (Dalarna Länsstyrelsen)

I’ve been working in the field of sustainable development since more than 20 years. The recent 7 years I was in charge of establishing the Building Dialogue Dalarna.

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