KLP is taking the step towards circular property management

KLP Eiendom is one of the Nordic region's largest real estate companies and owns over 2.2 million square meters of property. The company thus manages large areas of building materials that they want to get into a circular economic material flow.

We spoke with Jorunn Iren Husby who is Technical Manager at KLP Eiendom in Trondheim about the background for this investment, the result of their first reuse survey with Loopfront and the way forward towards circular property management.

What made you decide to invest in circular economy?

We at KLP Real Estate share the parent company's goal of being a leading company in social responsibility and sustainability, and in our sustainability strategy, material use and waste is one of our focus areas in addition to environmental management, energy and climate.

In KLP Real Estate management, we have for many years thought of reuse - and our operating technicians have shared materials internally in the department with their colleagues if they have had any available they know could be used for reuse without us having called this circular economy.

What is taken out in connection with tenant renovations has been reused in other buildings where this has been appropriate and possible. Part of the challenge is that it has not been as easy to keep track of what is in the buildings, and that building materials are not available exactly when needed. In addition, some of the construction projects on our buildings are often tenant adaptations, and we have little influence on operations to get the tenant to choose reuse.

We wanted to test Loopfront to see if we through a digital recycling platform could give us a better overview of what is available of building materials and fixtures internally in the company, but also that the materials which have been mapped can be reused by others who are also connected to the platform.

This summer you have mapped materials in an office building in Trondheim. Did any of the findings from the survey surprise you?

What surprised us most was probably the extent of what was registered. The survey on Brøsetveien 168 was carried out by our operations manager Thomas Rise Refsnes and Marina Skanche from Loopfront, and in 10 hours they found a total of 1248 products that can be reused, which corresponds to a saving of 21.5 tonnes of CO2 if new equivalent were used products, or NOK 1.56 million.

What potential do the mapped materials have for reuse at KLP?

Several of the products will be possible to reuse in other projects, where both carpet tiles, wall panels and windows have residual value, in addition, some of the registered interior was almost not used before tenants moved out and therefore has great reuse value. Other products can be difficult to adapt to reuse, but reuse for the creative can also be possible.

Loopfront provides a good overview of what we have in this building and how much we can save the environment if the registered products are reused.

How will KLP proceed on the way to circular economy?

In 2020, KLP Real Estate Management in Trondheim was named Norway's Green Operations Team, precisely because we have a strong focus on the idea of ​​sustainability. Using Loopfront in our buildings shows that we want to continue this focus.

If we are to succeed in reuse, it will be important that operating technicians who know our buildings well participate in the survey and get an overview of all potential materials and interiors that can be reused and that they have access to the system. In addition, it will be crucial that our managers and project managers who are in negotiations with tenants about building adaptations also talk about circular economy and get tenants to take a look at what is available to re-use. Once we have registered our buildings, it is important that other companies, tenants and the like, can access our products and that we can access what others have available.

We see Loopfront as an exciting tool both to get a better overview of the materials that can be reused internally, but also as a tool in a larger perspective to inspire other companies and organizations to contribute to the sharing mindset and to reduce the footprint on the environment.

Jorunn Iren Husby (Technical Manager KLP Eiendom)