In November we visited one of the eight pilots in the Nordic Circularity Piloting Program: Enhancing Circular Economy of HVAC Systems, a project that focuses on the circular use of HVAC equipment, demonstrating in practice the feasibility and benefits of reusing HVAC systems. Kotkan Julkiset Kiinteistöt Oy (JUKI), together with Nolla_E, is dismantling, relocating and reusing HVAC systems inside the Kotka Concert Hall.
The pilot is part of a broader energy efficiency project. Kotkan Julkiset Kiinteistöt, the city-owned property development company, and Nolla_E, an energy optimization software company, are using Nolla_E’s optimization software to analyze thousands of possible energy efficiency measures and their combinations for the city-owned Concert Hall. The goal was to find the most cost-effective way to make the building EU taxonomy–aligned. In this building, the chosen combination achieves the required energy performance level, cuts CO₂ emissions and operating costs by 50% or more, with a payback time of about 3.9 years, partly by reusing one of the existing HVAC machines.
The specific pilot, Enhancing Circular Economy of HVAC Systems, focuses on giving HVAC equipment a second life instead of discarding it. Pilot partners are reconfiguring the ventilation system, an existing air handling unit is being carefully dismantled and moved to a new, more optimal space within the same building, existing ducts are reused where possible, and one older unit will be removed and replaced with a new, more efficient machine.
Progress at the site
When we visited Kotka, the pilot was already well underway. Nolla_E had completed its energy optimisation work, running simulations, identifying the optimal combination of energy efficiency measures, and producing a full investment case covering energy class improvements and CO₂ impacts. The ventilation concept was designed, the balance between reused and new equipment selected, and both the main contractor and key subcontractors were in place. Some surprises had already emerged — mocking the heavy modules into their new location required working around tight spaces between roof trusses and enlarging openings, which meant revising structural drawings and adding a few weeks to the schedule. Nevertheless, dismantling and installation were progressing, with completion targeted for the end of January.
Key Benefits Emerging from the Pilot
From the conversations in the pilot site, three clear benefit areas stood out:
1. Environmental Impact. The optimisation delivers measurable reductions in energy consumption and CO₂ emissions while bringing the property into EU taxonomy alignment. Reusing air handling units and ductwork avoids the embodied carbon associated with manufacturing and transporting fully new equipment.
2. Economic Performance. For JUKI, the investment is financially attractive. With a payback under four years, the energy actions outperform many traditional property investments.
3. Capability Building. The project is building new skills and capabilities across the local ecosystem. Property managers, designers and contractors are learning to plan and execute reuse instead of defaulting to replacement. Local contractors in particular gain a competitive edge by treating reused components as normal practice.
Learnings and Next Steps of the Pilot
While the pilot is delivering clear environmental and economic benefits, it has also brought valuable learnings. Relocating large ventilation units inside an existing building requires careful planning and cooperation: tight roof spaces required redesigning structural elements, enlarging openings and carefully lifting heavy modules through narrow gaps, all while coordinating owners, tenants, designers, contractors and programme partners under tight timelines.
In the coming month, the team will complete dismantling, relocation and installation, and fine-tune the upgraded system. Once operational, the focus will shift to monitoring real energy use, CO₂ performance, comfort and maintenance against the calculated scenario.
From One Building to Many: Scaling the Pilot
During our site visit, we discussed how scalable the pilot is. From both a technical and conceptual standpoint, the model has clear potential to scale. Within a single owner’s portfolio, the potential is already significant: JUKI alone manages around 250 buildings, offering opportunities for internal reuse loops where functioning equipment is shifted from one property to another, more suitable locations, instead of scrapping. Nolla_E is exploring how its software could match surplus equipment from one project with needs in another— effectively becoming a “reuse matching engine” for building systems. In the ideal future setup, reused units would move directly from one site to the next with only minimal refurbishment. Circular storage hubs could act as buffers, enabling scale without adding unnecessary logistical complexity.
Three key lessons learned so far
When asked to summarize their top three learnings by far, the Nolla E and JUKI teams highlighted:
1. Just start. Conditions may never be perfect, but the single most important move is to simply decide to begin.
2. Project models matter. Design and procurement models matter just as much as the technology itself. How contractors are sourced, how planners and installers collaborate and how risks are allocated all have a major impact on timelines, quality and the ability to prioritise circularity
3. Measure and document everything. Avoid gut feeling - instead calculate costs, energy, CO₂ and payback across the entire process, and document each step. That’s the only way to convince internal decision-makers and to reliably replicate success.
Advice for anyone launching a circularity pilot
Lastly, we asked the pilot team what advice they would offer to another city or company looking to start their own circular technical systems pilot. The pilot team offered four recommendations:
Make time and give it priority. Circular pilots require more coordination upfront than conventional projects.
Expect project-management challenges and treat them as learning opportunities rather than failures. Missing drawings, tight spaces and unexpected constraints are not failures—they are part of building circular capability.
Don’t let fear of mistakes hold you back. As the Kotka team puts it, there is really “no reason not to” pursue these projects when the numbers make sense, and inaction itself is a risk in a climate-constrained world.
Surround yourself with partners who share the ambition. The right people matter as much as the hardware.
Thank you Kotkan Julkiset Kiinteistöt and Nolla_E for the inspiring site visit!