Across the Nordic region and Europe, governments are confronted with multiple challenges at the same time: increasing housing demand, climate targets, resource scarcity, demographic changes and pressure on public finances. Growing attention is now being directed towards how existing buildings can become a larger part of the solution.
To improve our common knowledge foundation on how to make better use of what we have, the Nordic countries have created an inspiration catalogue, which identifies five strategic action areas::
- Mapping the Existing Building Stock
- Prioritising Maintenance and Efficient Use
- Driving Renovation Instead of Demolition
- Enabling Changed Use Efficiently
- Renovation for the Future
To concretise the action areas, policy measures and cases that support each of the action areas are exemplified in the catalogue. In total it contains 34 specific ways to make a more efficient use of the existing building stock. The catalogue argues that existing buildings should be regarded as assets whose value can be maximised over time.