Odd Magnus Barstad, Nordic Head of Claims and Line Gjengedal Ruud, Head of Large, Complex & International Claims at If
A craving for pizza started the fire that brought down the combined apartment and office building in the Norwegian city of Sandefjord. When the time came to rebuild, If Insurance turned the Sandefjord premises into a pilot project for our new, more sustainable, way to rebuild for the future.
It began with a meal in December 2021: a hungry tenant took a frozen pizza from the box and placed it onto a racksetting the empty package on top of the stove hob. He then quickly turned on the oven, unfortunately the tenant made a serious mistake, as he had turned on the stove hob, instead of the oven.
Critically, the tenant then rushed out the door to do some quick shopping. however a catastrophe was already unfolding in the kitchen. Soon, the flames from the burning pizza box had spread to the rest of the apartment, and the fierce and rapidly developing fire resulted in major damage to the building.
Pilot project for new term
Following the fire, the site of the former structure was busy with people planning the repairs to the apartment building to restore it to its original condition. However, this would not be a conventional rebuild. In fact, building is covered by If’s new Sustainable Building term, which makes rebuilding damaged properties even easier and more sustainable.
During the reconstruction, solid wood was used, the building was connected to district heating and solar panels were fitted on the roof. In addition, a number of simple, sustainability measures were implemented, such as installing automatic water taps in the toilets.
– District heating is what we have the greatest expectations for. We have no previous experience with this, but it appears to be a sensible and safe way to heat buildings,” says Ole Arvesen, one of the two owners of the building in Sandefjord.
– Our sustainable re-building project was a success, allowing tenants back into their homes and the owners of the connected music store were finally able to reopen. Knowing that all materials and decisions have been made following sustainability and risk management guidelines, also feels good.
Advice and support
Through Sustainable Building, If provides concrete advice, guidance, and financial support for sustainable measures in the reconstruction of commercial buildings after major damage. This is based on the BREEAM-NOR certification model. The certification is Norway’s most widely used environmental certification system for buildings.
The Norwegian Building Insurance Super for commercial buildings now has Sustainable Building as part of its coverage. This entails advice and financial contributions to sustainable measures in the reconstruction in the event of extensive damage, for example after a fire.
The Sustainable building clause applies when a building has a degree of damage of 50 per cent or more, or incurs damage costs in excess of 10 million Norwegian kroner. If provides advice, guidance, and support for proposed sustainability measures, together with qualified external advisors and partners, related to the damage for up to 3 million kroner.
– As we know that almost 40 per cent of the world’s energy-related greenhouse gas emissions are related to the construction and operation of buildings, we also know that every sustainable construction and re-construction measure will contribute to an actual reduction in total emissions, says Odd Magnus Barstad, who is Nordic Head of Claims at If.
Economic carrots are important if we are to reach our climate and environmental goals.
Positive initiative
The Norwegian Green Building Council works to make sustainability a natural choice in the building, construction, and real estate sectors, as well as manages the BREEAM certification process in Norway. General Manager Katharina Th. Bramslev has been very pleased with If's initiative:
– Economic carrots are important if we are to reach our climate and environmental goals in time, and banking, finance and insurance play a crucial role here, says Bramslev.
Line Gjengedal Ruud, Head of Large, Complex & International Claims at If, highlighs, – With our long experience and knowledge about commercial buildings, we are in a unique position to provide our corporate customers with concrete advice, guidance, and assistance in implementing sustainable measures in connection with reconstruction after damage.
Line continues, – we are pleased, that the owners of Aagaard Music store, can open the building after a successful rebuild of the premises. The rebuild was done in accordance with our plan and budget estimation.
During the reconstruction process, the company receives documentation of the BREEAM scores achieved, as well as a calculation of the reduction of the building’s CO2 footprint.
(In Norway, warehouses, industrial production buildings, and farm buildings are currently not covered by the Sustainable Building policy.)
This is BREEAM
The BREEAM family of certification schemes is owned by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in the UK.
BREEAM has local adaptations in many countries and is a widely used environmental certification for new buildings and major renovations. The Norwegian Green Building Council manages BREEAM-NOR, which is the Norwegian version of BREEAM for new buildings and renovations and will soon also manage BREEAM-In-Use, which applies to existing buildings.
When a building is built according to the BREEAM standard, the project has qualities beyond the minimum requirements of the building regulations and has considered values that society is concerned about.
A building can be certified on five levels: Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent and Outstanding. With each level, the sustainability level of the building increases.