Property development and maintenance

We are a regionally significant investor.

Our aim is to develop healthy, functional, safe and energy-efficient environments for learning and research.
Our project planning is based on either our customers’ premises alteration needs or new construction needs, or renovation needs based on the current condition of existing buildings. Where possible, we incorporate other projects into our renovation projects, such as modernising learning environments or carrying out alterations to premises. We negotiate these with the universities.

We use the BREEAM classification system to evaluate new construction projects and major renovation projects. BREEAM, short for Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology, is a comprehensive set of indicators for monitoring the environmental impacts of buildings. The scoring incorporates a variety of criteria including management, health and wellbeing, energy, transport, water, materials, waste, land use, the prevention of contamination and innovation.

We invest in long-term cooperation

The principle governing our maintenance operations is a planned and systematic approach combined with long-term cooperation with highly competent local operators. Our campuses include buildings of significant historical and architectural value, which presents challenges to our maintenance operations.

Campus maintenance is the responsibility of service providers led by campus managers and technical managers. Property management is centered around building-specific maintenance programmes that serve as the foundation for agreements with maintenance companies. In addition to implementing the maintenance programmes, property maintenance companies also carry out necessary repairs based on orders placed by the campus managers and technical managers.

We monitor the status of our properties through an electronic service request system that property users can use to report any problems. Property maintenance needs are also surveyed in monthly meetings with representatives of property users. The meetings review acute issues related to the maintenance and use of each property. Major repairs are included in a long-term plan based on condition assessments. Campus managers and technical managers set the budgets for the necessary repairs annually and carry them out in cooperation with the maintenance companies and contractors.

We purchase energy from energy companies in 13 large cities all over Finland. Because environmental effects of purchased energy play a significant role of the total effects that our company produces collaboration with the energy companies is highly important. Among other things, we have taken part in supervising a master`s thesis which investigates emission coefficients for energy that is produced by an energy company. We are truly interested in the origin of energy that is used in our properties. We are constantly looking for opportunities of low-carbon energy and we focus on the premises in which we have the greatest potential for improvement. When assessing the emissions from our operation we use locally determined coefficients for emissions. By doing this all the work that has been done locally to reduce emissions will be taken into account.

We cooperate with energy companies to reduce our environmental impacts. In determining our emissions related to electricity consumption, we apply an emission factor that matches the purchasing channel, for example, emission factors that take green electricity into account. We take the energy companies’ emission reduction efforts into account by using local emission factors for heating. We have a keen interest in how energy companies across Finland produce energy for us.

Major projects across Finland

In 2016, we invested EUR 95.8 million in new construction, renovation and extension projects.
We were kept busy by previously started major projects, such as the Medisiina D new construction project that began in Turku in November 2015. The foundation stone for the Medisiina D multipurpose building was laid in May, and the project will continue until mid-2018.

Projects completed during the year included Arvo, a newly constructed building for the University of Tampere School of Medicine, the renovation of the Teacher Training School of the University of Turku, alterations to the premises of Terveystalo at the Linnanmaa campus in Oulu and the new dentistry building of the University of Oulu.

At the end of 2016, we had a total of 169 investment projects in the preparatory and planning stages, with a combined value of EUR 75 million, and another 90 projects in the investment stage, with a total value of EUR 201 million.

The year’s most significant planning and investment decisions in property development included the Verso project that will promote the shared use of premises by Lappeenranta University of Technology and Saimaa University of Applied Sciences, the Catalonia building renovation project at the University of Turku and several alteration projects at the University of Oulu’s Linnanmaa campus.

In 2016, we signed the Property and Building Sector Energy Efficiency Agreement (TETS) for the period 2017–2025. We began pursuing the 7.5 per cent energy savings target for heating consumption stipulated by the agreement by drafting an action plan for maintenance. We have started the process by evaluating the energy savings potential of our campuses. We began the development of a management system for maintenance operations with the aim of creating a documented management system that includes the monitoring, reporting and auditing of operations.

Significant projects to be completed in 2017 include the indoor air quality project in the main building of the University of Jyväskylä and the renovation of the G section at the University of Tampere Teacher Training School. We will continue the development of the management system and operating models for property maintenance.