Nordic Circularity Piloting Program – News article April 22
Nordic Circularity Pilot Program Concludes: Technical Building Systems Are Ready for Reuse
HELSINKI/STOCKHOLM/OSLO – April 22, 2026 Today marks the culmination of the Nordic Circularity Piloting Program, a pioneering initiative that has challenged the construction and real estate industry to stop scrapping fully functional technical systems. At the final event, leading companies from across the Nordics unveiled a unified conclusion: the technology to reuse technical building equipment like elevators, HVAC, electrical systems and access solutions already exists, now the real work is to scale the business models, contracts and processes that support it.
Over the past year, the Program has brought together property owners, manufacturers, construction companies, consultants and other circularity-enabling actors in eight real-world pilots across Finland, Norway and Sweden. The results show that retaining and refurbishing technical installations, the "hidden" layers of our buildings, can deliver substantial carbon and resource savings without compromising on performance or safety.
Modern performance through smart component retention
For decades, renovation has often meant ripping out the old to make way for the new. The pilots demonstrate that this approach is increasingly obsolete.
In a landmark pilot at Sørkedalsveien 6 in central Oslo, property owner CapMan Nordic Real Estate III Fund, property manager CapMan Real Estate, and KONE are modernizing five elevators in a 20,000 m², 18‑storey office building by retaining majority of the existing heavy steel components, such as guide rails, and updating the technology and aesthetics. This aims to save up to 60% of embodied carbon (112 tons) compared to a full replacement while delivering better performance: the modernized elevators will run 20–25% faster than a full new system could have achieved in the same shaft dimensions.
“We are using the existing elevator as a platform, but from a customer point of view, we are creating a brand new elevator – one that is faster, more energy‑efficient and future‑proof,” says Otto Heiska, Customer Solution Engineer at KONE Norway.
HVAC: heavy systems can live twice
On the HVAC side, multiple pilots showed both the promise and the practical friction of reusing large technical systems.
A Swedish consortium – Skanska, Swegon, Lindab, Vasakronan and Demontera – tackled the complex challenge of disassembling HVAC systems for reuse. In real projects, they tested early‑stage planning, on‑site inventories, image‑based dismantling instructions and supplier take‑back. They found strong interest and willingness to pay for reused HVAC products, particularly when manufacturers like Swegon and Lindab can clean, upgrade and quality‑assure components and sell them with new warranties.
Their first planned dismantling at Tegelbruket in Stockholm had to be cancelled late in the process due to asbestos risk in ducts – a sharp reminder that hazardous material checks must be done early – but a second site allowed them to complete dismantling and cost follow‑up on diffusers, ducts and air‑handling units. The added time for careful dismantling proved modest when planned from the outset, opening a path toward cost‑efficient take‑back in future projects.
Energy‑efficiency specialist nolla_E confronted the same question from another angle: what if we treat ventilation units like valuable assets, not waste? In Kotka, Finland, they reused parts of an existing air‑handling unit and integrated it into an optimized renovation of the city’s concert hall attic, supported by detailed building and HVAC simulations.
In a parallel case between a hospital in Stockholm and a building in Uppsala – involving two different property owners – a planned reuse of a ventilation unit stalled. The technical fit was there, but the team could not obtain a fixed price for dismantling, which made the deal impossible to close.
Their conclusion: circular HVAC is technically viable and often economically attractive, but success hinges on early planning, clear allocation of risks and responsibilities, and fit‑for‑purpose contracts – especially when equipment moves between different property owners.
The “Reuse Tool” for electrical systems
Multiconsult developed and tested a “ReUse Tool” for electrical components on two Norwegian projects with Norwegian Property and Trondheim Kommune. Starting from mandatory reuse inventories, the tool calculates CO₂ and cost savings for reusing low‑voltage equipment such as cable routing, distribution boards and lighting fixtures etc. In one office building case, the tool identified potential savings of 123 tonnes of CO₂ in the electrical systems alone – and showed that regulatory hurdles can be overcome when a qualified electrician performs risk analysis and documentation, as you get from the ReUse Tool.
Cable trays as a low‑hanging fruit
Norwegian startup Staaltro piloted the reuse of steel cable trays together with CapMan Real Estate in the same Oslo building as the KONE pilot. Working with demolition contractor and wholesaler, they tested careful dismantling, logistics and documentation. Although corrosion in a very humid underground garage meant that the pilot batch was not sold, a life‑cycle analysis showed that reused cable trays can cut CO₂ emissions by up to 99 % compared to new ones. The team produced detailed dismantling guides and cost data that can now be applied in future projects.
From products to services
The Program also highlighted the possibility for a broader shift from selling products once to selling performance and availability over time: “Product‑as‑a‑Service” models that naturally reward longevity and repair.
In a learning center in Southern Finland, Oras piloted a “Faucets and Showers as a Service” model with SRV. Instead of the property manager buying and scrapping about 300 faucets and showers over time, Oras now takes responsibility for the equipment. Broken units are swapped from a small “circular stock” on site; the removed units are sent back to the factory for repair, surface refresh and redeployment.
Because the plumber’s task becomes a quick 15‑minute exchange using stock on site, response times drop and the business case for repair improves. The pilot is still in its early operational phase, but it already points to faster service, better data on product performance and a significantly more circular use of metal and water‑using components.
Locks and access systems: refurbish and reuse
High‑security hardware has potential to sell larger volumes of reused products. In one pilot, ASSA ABLOY and Certego focused on reused access systems, using an existing refurbishment process to identify opportunities and barriers for scaling. The team developed a structured method for selecting which products are best suited for reuse, clarified customer expectations on “circular” products and how the customer measure it.
In Finland, Abloy Oy ran a complementary pilot with the City of Tampere at the Tammela School site, where zoning rules require reuse on the new building. The pilot showed that while certain lock cases had reached the end of their technical life and no longer met current safety standards, door handles and key cylinders could be factory‑refurbished. Surface‑treated handles came back to “as‑new” visual and functional quality, and crucially, the recoating process could be integrated into existing production lines without new investments.
The verdict: business models, not just technology
Across all eight pilots, a clear pattern emerged: the core technical challenges of circularity can be solved, often with existing know‑how and equipment. The real bottlenecks lie in:
Inventory early, and do it right.
Circularity fails when it is an afterthought. Pilots repeatedly showed that hazardous materials, reuse potential and logistics must be assessed at the very start of a project – ideally combining mandatory hazardous‑materials inventories with reuse inventories to save time and cost.
Trust the quality – and prove it.
Manufacturers in the program have shown they can test, refurbish and warranty used components – from air‑handling units and access systems to faucets and elevators – to perform on par with new products. Documented testing, and clear warranties are key to convincing both tenants and owners.
Align roles, incentives and contracts.
The most successful pilots involved close collaboration between property owners, contractors, installers, dismantling companies and suppliers, backed by clear responsibilities and incentives in contracts. Where projects struggled – for instance in cross‑owner ventilation reuse or late‑stage asbestos findings – it was usually due to timing, unclear responsibilities or misaligned financial incentives, not technical limits.
Build on what already works.
Pilots had the most traction when they plugged circular activities into existing manufacturing, logistics and distribution set‑ups rather than designing entirely new value chains from scratch. Working with standardised materials and components that can be combined with new products was also highlighted as a way to make reuse more feasible at scale – helping with everything from inventory and testing to documentation and warranties.
As the Program formally concludes, the participating companies emphasize that the pilots were a starting point, not an endpoint. The blueprints – methods, tools and early business models – now exist. The next step is for the wider Nordic construction and real estate sector to pick them up, adapt them and push circular technical building systems from pilot to practice.
If you would like to start building new pilots in your value chain, or already move to scaling with support from us or other peers – don’t hesitate to reach out!
The final report of the Program will be published later in the Spring – stay tuned!