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Ruukki Construction is making its operations even more sustainable. Reducing the environmental footprint in construction will benefit everyone.
Ruukki Construction wants to be the first to offer its customers fossil-free steel construction products. In addition to the use of products based on SSAB’s fossil-free steel, selecting durable, high-quality steel materials and biobased coating agents helps make buildings more environmentally friendly.
Ruukki has 60 years of experience of manufacturing high-quality steel roofs and solutions to create airtight walls. This is a good place from which to the set the bar at the top of the industry.
“We have set ambitious targets,” admits Jouni Metsämäki, who is responsible for Ruukki’s Roofing business.
“Our systematic development work aims at providing our customers with construction products made of fossil-free steel as quickly as possible and continuously improving the energy efficiency of our buildings with our airtight products.”
Putting the environment first
One of the keys to a carbon-neutral future is viewing construction as an entity, with each operator in the value chain reducing its own environmental footprint.
Ruukki Construction has committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions from its operations by 25% by 2026. Ruukki’s philosophy is based on the energy-efficient operations of its plants and machines and the use of energy from environmentally friendly sources. In addition, Ruukki aims to minimize material waste in its production and use more sustainable packaging materials.
Logistics will be optimized so that Ruukki is close to the customer and products are made and delivered when they are needed. Some of Ruukki’s plants already run on green energy and for example in Finland, the plants in Alajärvi and Vimpeli are switching to renewable fuels for their forklifts.
Throughout its history, Ruukki has delivered high-quality roofing products to its customers. Environmental values have always been taken into account in the design of new products.
“Steel roofs are robust, durable and often made from recycled steel. Long warranties reduce the need for maintenance, which in turn decreases carbon emissions. And even if heavy rainfalls become more common due to climate change, Ruukki’s steel roofs can withstand such challenging weather conditions,” explains Metsämäki.
The customer gains the biggest benefits when Ruukki delivers the roof as a complete package. Sealed, watertight structural solutions and the use of coated steel as the material give Ruukki’s roofs their outstanding properties. As the coating for its roofs, Ruukki uses durable, environmentally friendly rapeseed oil-based GreenCoat Pural BT coatings. For seam metal roofs, Ruukki delivers roofing sheets with the GreenCoat Legacy coating, which can be painted on immediately after installation. This helps create savings for the construction project, while promoting sustainable development.
Good design goes a long way
Low-carbon construction is gaining popularity among professional builders and designers, along with private consumers. More than ever, decisions related to building materials also have to stand the test of time. Transition towards carbon-neutral construction is long and consists of several stages.
“We want to be involved in the development of more durable steel construction products and solutions in collaboration with designers and our customers. Our comprehensive product data documentation is easily available to help with sustainable decisions. At Ruukki, we believe we can help our customers stay at the forefront of sustainable development, and we will continue our work to achieve this goal,” says Metsämäki.
He stresses that to its customers, Ruukki will remain the high-quality operator with strong values that they have come to know over the years. “Our customers regard out operations as reliable, quick and easy. These are qualities that we will never compromise on.”