Nordic community builder Peab has joined forces with top US steel company SSAB to launch the world’s first building with fossil-free steel at Lund, Sweden, in collaboration with Finland-based Ruukki Construction and Swedish property company Wihlborgs. 

 

The building’s wall and roof structures have been designed and produced by Ruukki Construction, while parts of the building were manufactured using fossil-free steel from SSAB.

 

With this, Peab has now become the very first construction company to use fossil-free steel in a construction project. The building (Tomaten 1) in Hasslanda in Lund is an industrial facility covering 6,000 sq m. 

 

The fossil-free SSAB steel has been used in the production of sandwich panels made by Ruukki Construction in Finland for parts of the building walls. Wihlborgs is the customer and developer, and the tenant will be contract manufacturer Inpac.

 

On the novel project, Peab CEO Jesper Göransson said: "We’re extremely proud to be part of a historic shift for our industry. The building is a starting point for work to reduce the climate impact in the steel industry on a broad front."

 

"It’s a real community building project and, together with Ruukki and SSAB, Peab is now further strengthening itself to meet its customers’ growing demands for more sustainable material choices," he stated.

 

"It’s amazing to see what great steps forward can be taken with sustainable development when it’s done together with others – the project with Peab and Ruukki shows what is actually possible right now," remarked Christina Friborg, Head of Sustainability at SSAB.

 

"For SSAB, it’s not just about reducing our own emissions with fossil-free steel, but also about contributing to reducing the carbon footprint in other parts of the value chain," she stated.

 

Sami Eronen, President of Ruukki Construction, said this project was an excellent example of how going forward the group could revolutionise construction together with its customers.

 

"We’re proud to be involved in driving the construction industry forward with our products that are not only made with fossil-free steel, but also developed with sustainability and the entire life cycle impact of the product in mind," he noted.

 

Ulrika Hallengren, CEO of Wihlborgs, said: "We can only achieve the industry’s goal of climate neutrality if we collaborate and together develop products and buildings that make a real difference."

 

"This project is an important step in this direction, and as the customer we have a major responsibility to constantly raise the level of our own requirements, so that the entire chain is characterized by high sustainability ambitions," she added.-TradeArabia News Service