Sweco’s new digital tool calculates simultaneously both costs and emissions of the structural entity designed

Published: Mar 31, 2023

The digital tool Sweco developed gives the client and designer a real-time view of the up-to-date costs and carbon footprint of the design solution.

An automated tool integrated into all of Sweco’s BIM-based structural design brings clarity to the project’s overall investment, which includes emissions and costs as equally important elements.  Both should be known when planning the project and communicated in a timely and open manner. The tool can be printed out in an easy-to-read report for the client to support design control and decision-making.

In the best case, the tool makes it possible to restart construction projects that have been put on ice, as the present value of the required investment can be easily estimated even from the old building information model, and the entity can be changed where necessary as well as compare between different solutions, enabling investment decisions. The tool’s log always contains the cost and emissions data of the recording date, which means that comparable data can always be viewed afterwards. The data used is based on the CO2data.fi database, which compiles the climate impacts of construction products and services used in Finland, as well as extensive validated cost data collected and maintained by Sweco. Sweco has been developing and implementing cost and quantity accounting services in Finland for over 20 years.

“Cost accounting is not a general strength of the design industry, even though using automated tools both during the investment phase and during the project could bring great savings and other benefits. Cost overruns, delays in schedules or unexpected failures and the resulting contractual penalties often colour the debate. To supplement the estimated total price, we will also offer real-time cost monitoring and other cost information tailored with the client’s figures as the project progresses to support project management, if the client wants to make sure that the project’s cost estimate is correct,” says Sweco’s Ismo Tawast, Division Director, Buildings.

The tool does not take into account the impact of the area, construction site or construction contract implementation model on costs. In other words, the building part has the same technical price, regardless of whether the project is planned in the Helsinki metropolitan area or Northern Finland.

The information produced by the tool is available to all clients who order structural design from Sweco.

“Our goal is to produce efficient and resource-wise structural solutions as part of our employees’ everyday lives. It is important to illustrate how even small decisions affect the end result of the project and jointly find the end result that best serves the client,” says Eetu Partala, Director of Technology, Buildings, Sweco.

Further information:
Eetu Partala, Director of Technology, Buildings, Sweco, 0400 340 313, eetu.partala@sweco.fi
Heini Jokinen, PR and Media Relations, Sweco, 040 718 0063, heini.jokinen@sweco.fi