In early February, we visited CapMan Real Estate’s large-scale renovation project at Sørkedalsveien 6 in Oslo, as part of the Nordic Circularity Piloting Program. By choosing to refurbish the 20,000 m² and 18-storey flagship building rather than demolish and build new, CapMan is significantly reducing embodied carbon emissions while simultaneously achieving a major leap in energy performance, with an ambition to lift the building’s EPC from E to A. The project will be completed for the new tenant by Q3 2027.
Sørkedalsveien 6 also serves as a ground for two exciting circular pilots under the program:
KONE and CapMan are modernising five elevators by retaining and upgrading existing equipment instead of replacing everything.
CapMan and Staaltro are testing the reuse of cable trays, exploring what it takes to turn this seemingly simple component into a circular product at scale.
Progress, learnings, and next steps at the site
KONE x CapMan: modernising five elevators instead of replacing them
When CapMan acquired the building in 2022, it was clear that a full refurbishment would be needed to meet the expectations of the new tenant and to bring the building up to modern ESG and energy standards. Initially, the plan was straightforward: remove all five existing elevators and install completely new ones.
During early discussions, KONE and CapMan started to question that default. Using people-flow and CO₂ analysis, KONE’s team showed that a modernization solution can match the capacity in terms of speed and waiting times of a full replacement solution, but at the same time, enabling significant CO2 savings by retaining more than 60% of the existing materials.