European Affordable Housing Consortium, SHAPE-EU

OBÖ Climate Concept

Örebro Environment and Resource efficiency
Responsible Housing Award

Description

ÖrebroBostäder AB (ÖBO) pursues a holistic approach, building and controlling its technology on the organisation’s own operation. It therefore can be easily tailored for different needs.The main idea was to guide the regular maintenance and renovation budget towards areas where measures on energy issues will produce the greatest energy savings. In this way, OBÖ aimed to save a lot of energy at a relatively low cost.

Context

At the end of 2007, ÖBO’s board decided to reduce the company’s carbon dioxide emissions by at least 20% by 2015, compared to 2005 levels. A project group started climate operations in 2008.
ÖBO is today working on a broad front to reduce climate impact and to achieve the targets set for 2015. The goal is, during an 8-year period, to reduce the company’s carbon dioxide emissions by 20% in comparison to 2005 levels; a big challenge in such a large housing portfolio.

In order to achieve this goal, the company must have:
▶ reduced oil consumption by 95%
▶ reduced district heating by 15%
▶ reduced electricity consumption by 25%
▶ reduced emissions from ÖBO’s transportation by 50%
▶ at least 15% of the company’s total electricity consumption coming
from renewable electricity supplies, such as wind power.

Issues tackled

This modus operandi also means that the organisation itself is actively and continuously working on  issues. This work is ongoing throughout the entire portfolio, always being carried out
methodically. Everyone is involved and, based upon their role within the company, all employees are encouraged to look for anomalies and thereby contribute with ideas to further improvement. This means that ÖBO is constantly building up its own expertise, which leads to further beneficial development. This differs from the normal method, whereby a third party provides services aimed at improving energy efficiency in the form of projects. A few consultants do the actual work within these projects, and can share their expertise when the work has been completed.

Actors involved

Results

By working consciously and methodically to reduce energy requirements for heating, and thus the burden on the environment, we will achieve our goals. At the end of 2015, the overall reduction of emissions had reached 38%. In running cost, ÖBO has decreased the energy costs a bit more than €5 Million per year, compared to 2005. At the same time, the value of the housing stock has increased in the long run. The target group for ÖBO is all property owners who either own or manage housing and/or other premises. The method to systematically find where energy is being wasted or consumed inefficiently is simple and the cost relatively low compared to the savings that can be achieved within a relatively short time. The ÖBO concept is transferable and has proven
to be efficient. It consists of open and standardised industrial solutions, even in international competition, meaning costs can easily be kept low. The property and energy sectors now use ÖBO as an example of successful improvements to energy efficiency, and several leading companies and organisations have shown considerable interest in taking the ÖBO concept to apply it to their own operations. The concept has proven to work, and that covers both strategy and organisation with standardised technical infrastructure and ready-to-use energy solutions. The system is simple and structured with standardised industrial technology that is freely available across Europe.

Why it works

✚ A comprehensive strategy to save energy and reduce
carbon dioxide emissions through different actions e.g.
monitoring of the energy performance of construction
contractors and builders.
✚ The concept is integrated into the city agenda, i.e. it is part
of the “Örebro Climate change project”.
✚✚Innovative and impactful with important energy savings.

Scale

local https://www.obo.se/