Carbon Negativity of Finland Ecovillage to Slow Down Climate Change

Finland’s first carbon-negative small houses are being built in Pargas, Southwest Finland. Carbon negativity means that more CO₂ is being sequestered than emitted and thus the emissions are negative. This prevents or slows down the climate change. Macon is the company conducting the carbon footprint calculations of the building project and ensuring that the ambitious carbon negativity target is reached. Godai is serving as general contractor.

The small houses have a wooden structure. They are carbon negative upon completion and certified by numerous certification programs. The general contractor’s aim is to build homes with healthy materials to provide healthy indoor air: during construction the humidity and dust management are brought to the highest possible standards. All the timber will be certified, which ensures the responsible forestry and timber handling. Besides being energy efficient, the small houses also utilize solar energy. Water consumption is reduced in many ways; e.g., by recycling graywater.

The first responsible small house is under construction in the Pargas center just by the canal. The concept house will be completed between May and June 2022. Next to it on its own plot, an ecovillage of seven small houses identical with the concept house will be completed by the end of 2022. All the small houses are carbon negative upon completion and share the same certificates as the concept house: Nordic Swan, RTS Environmental Classification, FSC and PEFC certificates, Kuivaketju10 and Active House certificates.

The carbon footprint of a building’s whole lifecycle is mainly determined during the building’s design process. It is remarkably more difficult to influence the emissions after the building’s completion. Carbon footprint calculations pay attention to the energy and space efficiency of the building, as well as to material choices and minimizing the use of material.

According to Godai, the impact of site-specific logistics is also taken into consideration. The carbon footprint calculation conducted by Macon is based on RTS Environmental Classification (carbon footprint of a building’s lifecycle and lifecycle costs), lifecycle meters by Green Building Council Finland and method for assessing the carbon footprint of buildings by Ministry of the Environment. It is also possible to use the European Commission’s Level(s) tool for Building Sustainability in the calculations.

According to Ministry of the Environment, buildings and construction account for about a third of all the greenhouse gas emissions in Finland. The construction sector must also reduce emissions to achieve the national and international climate goals Finland is committed to.