Tove Malmqvist

• PhD, Docent
• KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Concrete production contributes to around 8-9% of global CO 2 emissions. Reusing building components in a circular economy can contribute to closing material loops and lowering CO 2 emissions. When reusing concrete elements, it is necessary to have effective methods for evaluating their reuse potential. In this study, a novel digital workflow is de...

This report discusses all the relevant EU, national and local level regulations that must be considered when deconstructing or reusing concrete elements in the ReCreate project countries (Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany). The results presented in the document are mostly based on desk studies which are, in some sections, complemented...

Concrete is the most used construction material, accounting for 8% of global CO2 emissions. Various strategies aim to reduce concrete’s embodied carbon, such as using supplementary cementitious materials, utilizing cleaner energy, and carbonation. However, a large potential lies in reusing concrete for new buildings in a Circular Economy, thereby c...

In light of the climate crisis and conflicting political ambitions in many countries to rapidly increase the number of dwellings, what housing strategies could reduce emissions? Co-living is one strategy sometimes highlighted but rarely implemented in mainstream construction practices. Using two Swedish case studies, the potential embodied carbon s...

A variety of life cycle assessment (LCA) calculation methods and rules exist in European countries for building performance evaluation based on new-build. However, the increased focus on the retention and renovation of the existing building stock raises questions about the appropriateness of these the methods and rules when applied to renovation ca...

To enable an industry-level transition towards the circular economy, complementary companies and other actors from the focal industry sector, resembling an industrial ecosystem, can jointly increase circulation via reuse or recycling in the system. Although all involved actors must benefit from doing so if their engagement is to be secured, little...

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is increasingly being used as a tool by the building industry and actors to assess the global warming potential (GWP) of building activities. In several countries, life cycle based requirements on GWP are currently being incorporated into building regulations. After the establishment of general calculation rules for buil...

Sustainable building design practices are influenced by requirements, guidelines, criteria for green procurement and certification, assessment tools such as life cycle assessment, etc. This study investigates how such artefacts support or define aspirations towards sustainability, through case studies of public housing projects in Sweden and Cyprus...

This paper is the second output of a project that examines the embodied greenhouse gas emissions (‘embodied carbon’) from the use of concrete in buildings. In the current absence of either regulation or widespread industry practice in quantified carbon assessment, it seems likely that messaging will play a powerful role in influencing designers’ pe...

Decision support tools for incentivizing environmentally sound decisions in building design, such as LCA (life cycle assessment), have been highlighted as an essential feature for enhancing the realization of more sustainable buildings. Nevertheless, the use of LCA to support decisions in building design is still limited in practice. A better under...

Purpose Previous life cycle assessments (LCAs) of buildings and building components show a broad range of values for the impact of maintenance and replacement, some highlighting these operations as major hotspots while others consider them insignificant. This article highlights methodological aspects explaining this discrepancy. The influence of th...

Introduction: Design practitioners’ knowledge and understanding of LCA is crucial for the necessary transition to decarbonisation of the built environment, as well as for lowering other environmental impacts. Recently, the Nordic councils of ministers suggested enhancing cooperation and harmonization within the use of LCA in the built environment i...

With one of the highest carbon footprints, the construction sector should be at the forefront of climate action. Reducing embodied impacts of construction also means ensuring that buildings are durable, low maintenance, and fit for purpose, while maximizing resource efficiency. However, thirty years in to research in this field, embodied impacts co...

Recent life cycle assessments (LCAs) of buildings highlight the importance of global warming potential from construction materials, in particular in energy-efficient buildings. It is therefore important to address the influence of methodological choices related to materials on LCA results. This paper focuses on scenarios for the maintenance and rep...

This paper received a "Best paper" award at the Beyond 2020 WSBE conference. Abstract. Recent life cycle assessments (LCAs) of buildings highlight the importance of global warming potential from construction materials, in particular in energy-efficient buildings. It is therefore important to address the influence of methodological choices related...

This chapter considers how circularity is being, and might be, approached and achieved within the built environment. Three case studies illustrate the current situation. The first case address life cycle assessment (LCA) in measuring circularity, showing that while LCA encourages recycling it gives little support to Design for Disassembly. The seco...

This paper describes the development of Citylab Post-Construction, a Swedish certification system for evaluating the sustainability performance of urban areas in a post-construction phase once the area is inhabited. The process design was based on transdisciplinary and research-through-design approaches, and involved experts and practitioners withi...

The sharing of indoor space can improve space and energy efficiency. The drivers and barriers to space-sharing initiatives are investigated from the perspectives of building users and building sector practitioners, based on interviews and a workshop. The role of energy performance metrics in promoting space efficiency is further analysed through a...

Sharing indoor space can improve space-and energy efficiency. Using interviews and a workshop, this article investigates drivers and barriers to space sharing initiatives from the perspectives of building users and building sector practitioners. The role of energy performance metrics in promoting space efficiency is further analyzed through a liter...

In planning for a future that fulfils sustainability goals, there is a need to explore how roles taken in socio-ecological transitions are perceived among different types of actors. Empirical insights from interviews with diverse actors involved in Swedish housing development are presented, addressing the roles, conflicting logics and power relatio...

A study of the drivers and success factors of space sharing initiatives such as cohousing, coworking and coliving. We investigate how such initiatives could help optimize the use of buildings in order to decrease resource use. We also review alternative energy performance metrics that are not based on floor area. We welcome your comments!

This paper publishes the results from a major five year International Energy Agency research project which investigated the reduction of embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions over the whole life (‘cradle to grave’) of buildings. Annex 57 collated and analysed over 80 detailed quantitative and qualitative building case studies from the partic...

Addressing sustainability in urban planning has led to an increasing number of certification systems to support such processes. Nevertheless, there is no commonly recognised framework listing what is important to consider when developing such systems. Citylab is a certification system that is used in several Swedish urban development projects. Toda...

The idea of continued economic growth is increasingly questioned and critically analysed on the basis of its potential negative sustainability impact. Along with the critique, visions and strategies for alternative systems need also be brought onto the agenda. The aim of this paper is to present the qualitative content of scenarios that explore sus...

This study investigates how Swedish municipalities work to reduce the climate change impact of building construction. It focuses on current practices related to promoting the use of sustainable construction materials and on barriers to environmental requirements in construction, in particular environmental performance requirements based on LCA proc...

The dominance of operational energy and related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of most existing buildings is decreasing in new construction, when primary fossil energy of building operation decreases as result of the implementation of energy efficiency measures as well as a decarbonisation of national energy mixes. Stakeholders therefore have a gro...

This comparative life-cycle assessment highlights three main alternatives for renovation of waste water sewerage: pipe replacement, cured- in- place pipe (CIPP) lining (also called sliplining) and renovation by coatings. The functional unit of this study is a six-story block house that was built in 1960 and has 29 apartments. The characterized resu...

Data used in life cycle assessment (LCA) for renovation methods of waste water sewerage for apartment buildings. Available at: Identifiers: URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-225157 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-225157 DiVA, id: diva2:1194375

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the art on this subject within Europe. In order to do so, it draws on a cross-case analysis of over 60 European case studies, developed and analysed by the authors as part of the International Energy Agency Annex 57 project.

This paper explores opportunities for the built environment to fulfill a far-reaching greenhouse gas (GHG) emission target in Sweden in 2050, in a context of low or no economic growth. A spreadsheet model was created, allowing for a quantitative estimation of GHG emissions and operational energy use for the built environment. Building on previous q...

The importance of embodied energy and embodied greenhouse gas emissions (EEG) from buildings is gaining increased interest within building sector initiatives and on a regulatory level. In spite of recent harmonisation efforts, reported results of EEG from building case studies display large variations in numerical results due to variations in the c...

The current regulations to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from buildings have focused on operational energy consumption. Thus legislation excludes measurement and reduction of the embodied energy and embodied GHG emissions over the building life cycle. Embodied impacts are a significant and growing proportion and it is...

This article reports on the development of the certification scheme Citylab Action. The process of development is described, design considerations for the scheme are accounted for, and results from a pilot study, in which twelve projects are testing the first part of the scheme, are provided. The scheme has been developed through an iterative proce...

Previous research suggests that environmental certification (EC) affects rental rates in non-residential buildings, but there is still little understanding of how tenants differentiate such buildings from those without EC. This paper examines whether and how tenants perceive value creation in EC premises in Sweden. The findings (based on 29 questio...

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through energy reduction in buildings is a high priority for policy-makers in the European Union and elsewhere. However, although long-term sustainability targets exist on the societal level, it is not obvious how these targets may trickle down to individual sectors and further down to specific organizations...

In early design phases, architects, landscape architects and urban planners are key actors whose decisions determine the environmental impact of planning and building projects. Environmental and sustainability assessment tools for buildings and neighbourhoods have been developed to promote sustainable building, but their usage has not been thorough...

Certification systems for sustainable neighbourhoods started to emerge around a decade ago. This study analysed the content, structure, weighting and indicators of two established certification systems for sustainable urban development – BREEAM Communities and LEED for Neighborhood Development. Several limitations of these systems were identified:...

The existing literature (mostly referencing heuristics of the valuation profession) provides little evidence on how property owners and managers themselves perceive value creation from environmental certification (EC) of buildings. To address this issue, questionnaire and interview data from non-residential EC building owners in Sweden are gathered...

In many European countries, there are building stocks in need of extensive renovation. This constitutes an important opportunity to perform energy-saving measures and improve indoor environmental quality aiming at a more sustainable built environment. In this paper, we report results from an interview study with the aim of obtaining an in-depth und...

This paper introduces the IEA Annex 57 case study method, consisting of a format for describing individual case studies and an evaluation matrix covering all case studies. Sample case studies are used to illustrate the method and the evaluation matrix through a first preliminary analysis. In compiling and evaluation existing, transparent case studi...

This paper introduces the IEA Annex 57 case study method, consisting of a format for describing individual case studies and an evaluation matrix covering all case studies. Sample case studies are used to illustrate the method and the evaluation matrix through a first preliminary analysis. In compiling and evaluation existing, transparent case studi...

Mitigating climate change through operational energy reduction in existing buildings is of highest priority for policy-makers in Europe and elsewhere. At the same time there is increasing understanding of the significance of impacts arising from material production for buildings. The aim of this work has therefore been to evaluate the importance of...

In this paper, we propose a method for assessing renovation packages drawn up with the goal of increasing energy efficiency. The method includes calculation of bought energy demand, life-cycle cost (LCC) analysis and assessment of the building according to the Swedish environmental rating tool Miljöbyggnad (MB). In this way the methodology assesses...

This study examined whether simplified life cycle-based calculations of climate change contributions can provide better decision support for building design. Contributions to climate change from a newly built office building in Gävle, Sweden, were studied from a life cycle perspective as a basis for improvements. A basic climate and energy calculat...

One of the key features of environmental policy integration in Sweden is sector responsibility. The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning is responsible for the building and real estate management sector and should, as a part of this responsibility, assess the environmental impacts of this sector. The aim of this study is to suggest and...

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is currently used to a very limited extent in the building sector, for several reasons. Firstly, making an LCA evaluation of a building demands a specific tool to handle the large dataset needed and this tool has to be adaptable to the different decisions taken throughout the life cycle of the building. Such tools have b...

In 2003, a joint effort between the Swedish government, a number of companies in the building and construction sectors, some municipalities, insurance companies and banks set a target that by 2009, all new buildings and 30% of existing Swedish buildings should be rated using a voluntary environmental rating tool. In a major research programme finis...

There are tools that are developed for the assessment of the environmental impact of buildings (e.g. ATHENA). Other tools dealing with the indoor and outdoor environmental quality of building properties (referred to as real estates in other literature) are also available (e.g. GBTool). A platform where both the aspects of quality and impact are pre...

For all actors involved with planning, developing and managing buildings, the environmental impact relating to energy use and the quality of the indoor environment are both aspects of major concern. It is crucial that a reduction in the environmental impact of a building is not achieved through compromising the indoor environment. This paper presen...

Buildings need to be more environmentally benign since the building sector is responsible for about 40% of all of energy and material use in Sweden. For this reason a unique cooperation between companies, municipalities and the Government called “Building-Living and Property Management for the future”, in short “The Building Living Dialogue” has go...

Many organizations present their environmental work in the form of annual reports and use the indicators in them for follow-up. However, internal communication and management is needed for environmental improvements. The indicators found in reports may be suitable for external communication, but are they also suitable internally and operationally?...

It is often unclear whether environmental rating methods for buildings assess the most significant environmental aspects or if other considerations lie behind the choice of assessment aspects in specific methods. In the development of a comprehensive Swedish environmental rating method for buildings, a number of approaches for selecting environment...

Denna rapport är en redovisning av resultat och underlag i testfasen i miljöklassningsprojekten. I januari 2005 inleddes tre forskningsprojekt med målet att föreslå ett system för miljöklassning av byggnader. Forskningsprojekten har en gemensam projektgrupp där 27 företag ingår. Syftet med projekten är att ta fram förslag till indikatorer och krite...

The EcoEffect method of assessing external and internal impacts of building properties is briefly described. The external impacts of manufacturing and transport of the building materials, the generation of power and heat consumed during the operation phase are assessed using life-cycle methodology. Emissions and waste; natural resource depletion an...

It is tacitly understood that comprehensive environmental assessment methods cover the most significant environmental aspects of the intended assessment conditions. However, depending on the purpose and target-group of the method, more or fewer aspects and indicators may be included. In the development process of a Swedish environmental rating meth...

The performance of environmental management systems is difficult to evaluate due to insufficient methods for measuring their environmental impacts. A procedure is proposed that contains more environmentally relevant indicators for assessing environmental impacts. In addition, theoretical and practical criteria are suggested for evaluating the relev...

Buildings need to be more environmentally benign since the building sector is responsible for about 40% of all of energy and material use in Sweden. For this reason a unique cooperation between com-panies, municipalities and the Government called the dialogue project has started. The project focuses on: -healthy indoor environment -efficient use of...

In this paper, quantitative impact indicators are proposed as a means to follow up and develop the environmental management practice in real estate companies and to improve the environmental performance of the existing building stock. A main purpose is to problemize the concept of indicators to be used in this context and to discuss ideas of indica...

Summary Aggregation of results is generally a prerequisite for practical application of environmental assessments. Since there is no consensus about how this should be done researchers and tool developers apply dif- ferent approaches, which are often customized to each tool or method. Due to this lack of generality it is difficult to transfer weigh...

LORE-LCA is a European research coordination action dealing with the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) in the construction sector. One activity is to analyse existing methods, including standards and guidelines, in order to establish a consensus by identifying good practice, and to list knowledge gaps for which further investigation is nee...