RAKEL – Extending the life cycle of buildings by developing new ways of use
Buildings remain empty or are underutilized due to the reforms and structural changes of welfare areas all over Finland. Vacant or underutilised buildings cause costs and safety risks, and their condition deteriorates faster. At the same time, the construction of new buildings consumes more natural resources and energy. The RAKEL project responds to the need to find new uses for vacant buildings in cooperation with regional actors, such as municipalities and companies. In particular, the public sector has opportunities to plan and implement the reuse of real estate.
During the project, construction technology demonstrations will be carried out in buildings and premises selected as demonstration targets. In addition to these, the innovations that emerged in the joint development work on new operating possibilities and business activities are being piloted. The pilots aim to strengthen regional vitality and offer various applicable examples for different parts of Finland.
The project actions are divided into five work packages:
TP1 Project management
TP2 Construction surveys
TP3 Co-development
TP4 Business and joint use
TP5 Communication and interaction.
The project tests how digital solutions support the extension of the life cycle of properties in both a technical and functional sense, as well as produces technical information about real estate sites to be used in planning the extension of the life cycle and innovating new ways of use. In addition, we will find out how the various working methods and tools of joint development are suitable for the ideation and development of new activities in buildings. Based on these, replicable business and shared use models related to buildings and premises are mapped and developed.
In terms of the possibilities of extending the life cycle of buildings, the focus of the project is also strengthening the awareness of the target groups and versatile communication about the measures and results of the project. The goal is to produce material that remains after the end of the project for the target groups to use and to support the planning and implementation of the activities.
The project supports the national goal of the green transition by carrying out tangible case studies and development cooperation in different regions in Finland. The case examples support building paths towards new uses and are applicable in many ways to regions and municipalities planning similar development work. As a result, the life cycle of the buildings will be extended, and the adoption of the operating model will be strengthened in the cooperating municipalities.
Experiments carried out in buildings provide an opportunity to test solutions in practice. Interested parties can get involved in the development at an early stage, and the result is replicable models that can be applied across Finland.
Information, experiences and solutions will be shared in meetings, workshops, seminars, on the project website, in publications and online events organised by the project.
RAKEL is a joint group project between Mikkeli Development Miksei Ltd, Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences, Vaasa University of Applied Sciences, the City of Kouvola and the Finnish Environmental Institute SYKLI. You can access the project pages of the project partners by clicking on the name of the partner.
