Climate impact analysis of a detailed development plan

The climate impact of building materials has been increasingly recognised, and soon there will be requirements for climate calculations for buildings. However, the climate impact of an entire detailed development plan, or the contributions of various building components, has not been studied to the same extent. A climate analysis for a detailed development plan provides knowledge about how different building types and facilities relate to each other, what drives climate impact, and what is less significant.

In Stockholm Royal Seaport tests have been conducted with climate calculations for individual infrastructure projects in public open spaces, and requirements have been set for developers to perform climate calculations on buildings to develop requirements for reducing climate impact. The results have been varied, and no comprehensive analysis has been conducted to study how much different parts of a detailed plan contribute to climate impact.

The major adaptations of the area in terms of structure and material selection mean that we will be able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 70 per cent. This is partly due to the reuse of stone material from nearby urban development for the filling of blocks, parks, and squares. It's both climate-smart and significantly reduces the number of transports to and from the area.

A climate analysis for a detailed development plan provides knowledge about how various structures and facilities relate to one another and what is most important to prioritise to reduce climate impact. This provides valuable information so that the city can better understand and work with the issue. This has been applied to Kolkajen, where plans include 1,500 new homes, two preschools, and 11,000m² of commercial space, as well as parks, squares, quays, and a water arena.

The phase will be built partly on existing land but also on new land created by moving the quay line out. As the plan is at an early stage, it is possible to influence climate impact by using the data to prioritise measures.

Purpose and goals

The purpose of climate calculation for a detailed development plan is to put various building components into context and etablish what drives climate impact. The calculation becomes an essential basis for the ongoing work to reduce climate impact, where climate measures with the most significant effect will be prioritised.

The goal is to develop a tool for early analysis of climate impact at the detailed planning stage.

Results and experiences

As the work on Kolkajen has been underway for several years, the climate analysis is based on assumptions from planning documents, reference values, and projected quantity calculations.

The large infrastructure components in public open spaces that contribute significantly to climate impact are both the remediation and ground stabilisation of old infilled land and the creation of new land by moving the quay line outwards. The analysis shows that the establishment of public spaces accounts for two-thirds of climate impact. It also shows that with Stockholm Royal Seaport's ambitions and sustainability requirements, the climate impact can be reduced by around 70 per cent. The most significant contribution to this reduction is a construction solution in land reclamation that minimises concrete usage – from a piled slab to filling with crushed material. In addition, work will continue to further limit the amount of concrete and replace it with climate-improved concrete during development.

Among the developers who have been allocated land, several have the ambition to build with wood, but others have conventional concrete structures. Standard values from 2022 have been used for the buildings' climate impact. With the City's sustainability requirements, the climate impact can be reduced by 50 per cent.