Katepal Green
Revised Building Act and the changing climate demand a lot from construction materials
In the future, the climate impact of the construction industry and the emissions and life cycle of construction materials will be looked at with an increasingly critical eye. Sometimes called a ‘repair kit’ for the Building Act in Finland, revised legislation enters into force in the beginning of 2025.
The legislative amendments include an obligation to calculate the carbon footprint of buildings from the start of 2026.
Going forward, new buildings in Finland are required to have a material declaration and a climate assessment, among other things. The purpose is to reduce emissions during the building’s life cycle and support the circular economy.
What is low-carbon construction?
The amendments to the Building Act in Finland aim to combat climate change and advance the circular economy by developing low-carbon construction, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging solutions which permanently remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Low-carbon construction means keeping the carbon footprint that covers the entire life cycle of a building as small as possible. Low-carbon efforts can be advanced with energy efficiency, recyclability and reusability as well as with long-lasting construction materials that have a low carbon footprint.
Finland’s Ministry of the Environment has drawn up criteria for a low-carbon built environment programme, which aims to promote low-carbon construction. The criteria will first be implemented in public construction projects.
Katepal also wants to promote low-carbon construction.
We are a pioneer in the environmental impact calculation of bitumen sheets, and many of our products have product-specific Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).
With our long-term product development efforts, we have been able to supplement our product portfolio with roofing materials that help us reach our goals in low-carbon construction – while also accounting for the demanding Finnish weather conditions.
Longer life cycle, smaller carbon footprint
You can advance your low-carbon construction efforts with Katepal Green products, ensuring a long life cycle and reducing the building’s carbon footprint compared to traditional roofing materials.
Bitumen roofing products – with their durability, water-resistance and technical properties – are the highest quality products available. Due to our extensive product development, the quality characteristics of Katepal Green products are equivalent to traditional bitumen sheet products – but with lower emissions.
Katepal Green products support the development of low-carbon construction
In the Katepal Green product range, some of the bitumen is replaced with renewable pine oil. In addition, the support layer materials have been replaced with plastic from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. The products are manufactured at our Lempäälä plant in southern Finland, which runs on 100% wind-generated electricity.
Renewable materials reduce the product’s carbon footprint compared to traditional bitumen sheets.
We have calculated the carbon footprint of our Katepal Green products in Environmental Product Declarations or EPDs, which support the development of climate assessments for construction materials as required by the new Building Act in Finland.
Recycling options for bitumen sheets have also been taken into account in the carbon footprint calculations. Although bitumen is a non-renewable raw material, it can be reused in asphalt, for instance, after a building is demolished or decommissioned.
