VVO SAVES 1,550,000 CUBIC METRES OF WATER A YEAR

At the same time VVO reduced its CO2 emissions by 5,000,000 kg a year.

ANNUAL SAVINGS AMOUNT TO 7.7 MILLION EUROS!

VVO Group plc, Finland´s largest private-sector landlord, is a pioneer in energy-efficient living, making it the perfect partner for Energo. The company has sought to reduce unnecessary water consumption in all its rental buildings by applying the principle of best available technologies (BAT), i.e. solutions that have been proven effective in practice and that are economical, ecological, long-lasting and environmentally friendly.

VVO’s has taken a proactive approach, introducing its policy of energy-efficient living years before the voluntary AESS and VAETS energy conservation agreements were introduced for Finnish construction and real estate companies. VVO also played an active role in drafting these agreements.

Energo began working with VVO in 1998. The scale of the cooperation was enormous, as VVO has over 40,000 rental apartments in nearly 50 locations throughout Finland. Its buildings comprise over 10 million cubic metres, representing approximately 1.4 percent of the entire volume of residential buildings in Finland.

The pilot project with VVO began with Flush Guard and was later expanded to include modernisation of water systems, constant flow solutions and systematic maintenance. The results of the project have been monitored closely from the start, allowing Energo to further develop the Smart Water programme and make it even more cost effective.

The successful cooperation between VVO and Energo is illustrated by a comment made by one of VVO’s representatives: “Energy conservation week is once a year, but for us it’s every day!”

RESULTS OF THE VVO PROJECT

The results compare the original levels with the current levels following the modernisation of water systems, introduction of constant flow solutions and systematic maintenance as supplied by Energo. The figures for water consumption and heating energy demands represent the average for all of VVO’s buildings.

ANNUAL SAVINGS IN WATER CONSUMPTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL LOADS

  • Water consumption per cubic metre has been reduced from 510 litres to 357 litres
  • Water consumption has been reduced by 30 percent
  • Energy demand for heating water has been reduced by 5 percent
  • CO2 emissions have been reduced by 5 million kilograms

ANNUAL COST SAVINGS

  • Annual savings in water costs amount to 6 million euros
  • Annual savings in heating costs amount to 1.7 million euros
  • Total annual savings amount to 7.7 million euros

TOTAL SAVINGS IN PERSPECTIVE

  • VVO now saves 1.55 million cubic metres of water a year, which is 14.5 times the volume of Parliament House in Helsinki
  • VVO now saves 25,000 MWh in heating energy a year, enough to heat over 3000 apartment buildings
  • The reduction in CO2 emissions of 5 million kilograms a year is equal to the annual emissions of 2000 cars (with average emissions of 167 g/km)

WHAT IF ALL OF FINLAND FOLLOWED VVO’S EXAMPLE?

  • The cost savings would be enough to build 60 apartment buildings a year
  • The savings in heat energy would be enough to heat almost 80,000 small houses or over 200,000 apartments connected to district heating networks each year
  • The savings in CO2 emissions would compensate for the emissions of over 120,000 cars a year

Sources: VVO, Finnish Energy and the Finnish Water Utilities Association

VVO SAVES 25,000 MEGAWATTS OF HEATING ENERGY A YEAR