Buildings and urban areas
The world’s cities are growing, and growing fast. Today, half of the world’s population lives in cities, many of which are transforming to become more sustainable, digitalised and resilient. Circularity, climate adaptation and energy efficiency are areas that are increasingly driving demand for Sweco’s services.
Developing the built environment
Sweco develops what has already been built and what does not yet exist. Understanding the big picture is essential for long-term success, and Sweco offers a wide range of services in buildings and urban areas with sustainability as a key component. Architects, engineers and environmental experts work side by side in tightly knit teams to find solutions to the most challenging and stimulating questions. Whatever the challenge, sustainability goal or project size, Sweco has all the expertise under one roof. Special attention is paid to climate adaptation as well as to emissions reduction, circular material flows and energy-efficient systems.
Social sustainability is a key component in promoting a more equal, safe and inclusive society. Biodiversity is actively supported with work that includes planning cities’ ecosystem services, working with blue-green infrastructure and conducting inventories of nature conservation value. In housing and urban development, sustainability and digitalisation go hand in hand, with new technology often a means of analysing, simulating and shaping the best solutions. The more complex clients’ challenges become, the more frequently Sweco’s teams span multiple disciplines and geographies. In buildings and urban areas, Sweco’s main contribution is to UN global goals SDG 11: Sustainable Cities, and SDG 13: Climate Action.
Working with property investor Vesteda, Sweco developed a software tool that specifies the risk of flooding and heat waves for the company’s entire property portfolio, along with initiatives that can be taken to reduce these risks.
Urban planning in transition
Climate change is placing increasing demands on city and urban planning to prevent and mitigate its effects. This involves everything from transitioning to fossil-free energy sources and improving energy efficiency to conserving resources and planning urban areas that are more resilient to phenomena such as floods and extreme weather.
Data-driven approach
Sweco’s consultants use digital tools in their complex calculations and visualisations of climate-related risks and costs for new construction projects as well as existing buildings. Our working method often reduces material and energy consumption, producing direct climate benefits and reducing costs. Sweco has developed a Carbon Cost Management service, where climate and cost are weighted equally in construction and infrastructure projects. Making a road one metre narrower or expanding the use of environmentally friendly concrete or wood are examples of measures for reducing a project’s climate impact.
Sweco has developed a cloudbased platform for digital twins, Sweco’s Twinfinity®. Using this platform, Vasakronan created digital twins of all of its 170 buildings.
Climate adaptation
Critical infrastructure failures resulting from rainfall-induced floods pose substantial risks to society, public health, economies, and the environment. Recent heavy flooding in Europe proves that rainfall is able to shut down cities leading to enormous damage and costs. Studies show more intense and frequent heavy precipitation will hit European cities. Sweco is assisting the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency to develop national standards for mapping extreme rainfall. The mapping will calculate flood distribution, water depth, surface water flows and flow paths for specific rainfall incidents. Results will be used to analyse the consequences of extreme rainfall, and the procedure will serve as a standard for Sweden’s municipalities in identifying and preventing flood risks.
Circularity
Smart solutions for reuse and circular flows create major environmental benefits – and are a strong trend in many areas. Thanks to new technologies, it is possible to create closed, self-supporting systems or build new ones based on existing material. A good example of the latter is Sweco’s work on renovation of the One Exchange Square office building in London. Reuse of the foundation and 90 per cent of the construction material has saved 6,798 cubic metres of cement and enough iron to build half of the Eiffel Tower.
Sweco has significant experience of advising clients in healthcare, from supporting industrial clients within the healthcare and pharma sector, to planning, designing, building and optimising hospitals and other health-oriented building projects.
Sustainability Report
Sustainability forms an integral part of Sweco’s business and strategy.
Sweco’s sustainability work
Sweco’s group-wide sustainability goal is to achieve climate neutrality by 2040.
This is Sweco
We are Europe’s leading architecture and engineering consultancy.
