Real estate developer to slash energy consumption and CO2 emissions of Finnish buildings

It has secured a loan worth EUR 80 million from the European Investment Bank

On 24 November, the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced that it will lend EUR 80 million to the Finnish real estate developer SATO Oyj. With this loan, the developer will refurbish 25 residential properties to higher energy efficiency standards.

More specifically, it will renovate buildings in Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, and other metropolitan areas to reduce their overall energy consumption by more than 30%. In this way, the company will lower CO2 emissions and contribute to the EU climate impact mitigation objectives.

Renovation is greener than construction  

According to the Vice-President of EIB Thomas Östros, constructing new properties emits more CO2 than renovating them. For this reason, renovation is a sustainable and environmentally friendly option. Discussing the loan and its benefits, Östros shared:

“Investing in energy efficiency is one of the most cost-effective and rational ways to curb carbon emissions and we are glad we can support SATO in this. This project is not only a step forward in sustainable urban development in Finland, but should also lead to a reduction in energy consumption for residents, thus lowering energy bills.”

Explaining how SATO plans to improve the energy efficiency of the properties, President and CEO Antti Aarnio shared that it will switch the property heat source from district heat to geothermal and introduce heat recovery ventilation and LED lighting. Beyond this, SATO will adjust and balance the heat distribution system, replace and repair windows, and add roof/wall insulation.

With these actions, SATO expects the renovations to generate primary energy savings of 7,235 MWh/year. This, according to the EIB, is the equivalent of approximately 1,109 tonnes of CO2 savings per year.  

Since buildings are responsible for 40% of the EU’s energy consumption, the renovation of properties is reportedly one of the key ways to reduce CO2 emissions.