Feedback on

green bondsIn May 2014, Stockholm County Council was the first county council in Sweden to issue a green bond. The bond funded two investment projects with a particular environmental focus: the Roslagsbanan expansion programme and the new construction and renovation of Södertälje Hospital. The amount of the first green bond, which is SEK 1.1 billion, has been fully invested as of the 31st of March 2015.

The other green bond, to the amount of SEK 1.8 billion, was issued in May 2015 and is intended for three projects: the Roslagsbanan expansion programme, the construction of New Karolinska Solna, and the new construction and reconstruction of Södertälje Hospital.

ContactsSLL Treasury DepartmentFrida Korneliusson, Chief Executive Officer, SLL Treasury DepartmentPhone: +46 (0)8 737 42 57, +46 (0)70-737 44 20Rosel Ragnarsson, DealerPhone: +46 (0)8 737 39 42

Below is a list of Stockholm County Council’s green investments

Roslagsbanan expansion programme

The Roslagsbanan expansion programme aims to develop and strengthen the capacity of a historical railway line that is of great importance for public transport in the north-eastern sector of Stockholm county. Creating the opportunity for more people to travel on public transport by train is more climate-smart compared with travelling by bus, but above all considerably better than driving a car.

The overall goal of the programme is to:• increase the capacity of Roslagsbanan and allow a regular 10-minute service frequency

for the majority of stations• reduce sensitivity to traffic disruption• keep us within the noise limits indicated in the Government’s Infrastructure Bill for

new railway construction• adapt stations and existing carriages for accessibility• improve safety in the rail system.

The Roslagsbanan expansion programme favours a sustainable future, as it will facilitate increased travel by public transport and provide relief for the E18 and E4 roads. Roslags-banan has approximately 46,000 travellers (boarding) per weekday, which saves around 80 tons CO2 per weekday compared with the equivalent travel by car (SCB/SIKA, average petrol consumption of a car in Stockholm: 0.86 litres/10 km, average occupancy 1.72 people per car and assumed journey 15 km).

In addition to promoting sustainable travel, the programme includes a large number of environmental initiatives.

Projects Total investment Green bond 2014 Green bond 2015 Invested from 1/6

Expansion of Roslagsbanan MSEK 8,455 MSEK 915 MSEK 250

New construction and reconstruction of Södertälje Hospital

MSEK 1,200 MSEK 185 MSEK 148

New Karolinska Solna MSEK 14,500 MSEK 324

Noise disturbance is one environmental aspect that can have a negative impact on the individual’s well-being and health. Noise poses a problem to public health, and the Roslagsbanan expansion programme involves a substantial effort to introduce noise- protection measures along the entire track.

During 2015 this work has included:• the renovation of Stockholm Östra in the form of various noise-reducing measures, such

as targeted, less intrusive loudspeaker announcements and noise absorbers on the ceil-ings and edges of the platforms (see Picture 2)

• construction document preparation for double track stretches and a programme and system document for the new depot in Molnby

• noise-protection measures on the stretch between Stocksund and Djursholms Ösby and on the Näsbypark branch line, including 5,000 metres of noise screens along the track, which will improve the situation for many residents in the area

• refurbishment of the existing carriages will provide better accessibility (96 carriages out of 101 ready by December 2015)

• safety improvement measures at level crossings• the procurement of a supplier of new carriages (to be assigned at the beginning of 2016).

Picture 1. Roslagsbananwith low noise screens Photo: SL

Picture 2. Platform absorbers at Djursholms Ösby.

New construction and renovation of Södertälje Hospital

Södertälje Hospital is being expanded and modernised to create more modern, more efficient premises. The project is intended to meet the estimated increased need of care capacity in the immediate area by 2020. An important starting point for the project is that the hospital should allow greater flexibility for the future. The technical systems are duplicated to cope with outages in more than one section.

One of the major challenges is to implement the project on a relatively small property while the hospital remains fully operational.

Around 23 percent of the new construction is completed and the building shell is about to be erected. The poured-in-place concrete is 95 percent complete. Work on the interior installations has now begun. The next milestone in the project is an “air-tight building”, to be achieved at the end of this year. An air tight building means that the facade, windows and roof have reached the stage of completion where interior work can begin without the risk of damage from damp and freezing conditions.

The forecast for the project is to meet the requirements of the Sweden Green Building Council’s Gold level of certification and to achieve the County Council’s key environmental goals as part of the Environmental Challenge 2016 (the Environmental Policy Programme of Stockholm County Council), which require the energy consumption of the building to be at least 30 percent lower than that specified in Boverket’s regulations for new buildings. The regulations for new building specify 125 kWh/m2 per year, whereas the forecast for the new Södertälje Hospital is 76 kWh/m2 per year.

Other goals in the project are to:• achieve greater interactivity and process orientation for cohesive outpatient care and

sterile technology• achieve better logical links between inpatient care, emergency department and

treatment functions• create generally designed wards for greater flexibility• ensure that the working environment for staff meets current demands without reducing

the available range of care• use the building materials assessment systems to ensure approved materials are

incorporated in the buildings• reduce energy consumption over time• dispose of waste in an eco-friendly way• ensure that transport over which Locum has influence is effective and environmentally

friendly• avoid substances with a detrimental impact on health and the environment

Picture 3. NKS.

New Karolinska Solna

Construction of New Karolinska Solna (NKS) was begun in the summer of 2010. In order to safeguard the very high environmental and sustainability goals that have been set, the whole project is being carried out from a sustainability perspective. One of the tools used to this end is environmental certification of the buildings. Two systems of certification are being used for NKS: the Sweden Green Building Council and the international system LEED. The aim is to achieve the Gold level in both systems. In September the fourth and final construction phase was approved for Gold level certification in accordance with the Green Building Council. A preliminary certificate can thus be issued for the entire instal-lation after an extensive third party inspection has been carried out by the certification body Sweden Green Building Council.

One aspect of the Green Building Council system is to reduce the energy requirements of the heating, cooling and maintenance of the installation. This is being done at NKS to such a degree that only half of the energy requirements permitted by legislation (Boverket’s Building Regulations) will be needed. This will mean substantial savings, both financial and environmental, since this annual reduction in energy requirements is the rough equivalent of the amount of energy used in 1,200 private homes. The fact that the energy that must still be used is 100 percent renewable and does not give rise to global warming emissions means that the maintenance of NKS will be climate-neutral.

Another focus area is to reduce the use of chemicals which have a detrimental impact on health and the environment by inspecting all the construction materials used. Thanks to the deliberate choice of flooring material, the use of softeners harmful to health (phthalates containing allergy-causing and hormone-disruptive properties) has been reduced by at least 70,000 kg compared with conventional construction – and this is only one of all the materials used in the construction.

THE GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL

The Green Building Council is a Swedish certification system for building installa-

tions where the focus lies on energy, the indoor environment and construction

material. Clear follow-up of supplier deliveries and reduced maintenance costs is

one of the issues for which the Green Building Council is known.

A building can achieve the Bronze, Silver or Gold level. On completion of the

construction planning a preliminary certificate is awarded. In order to be awarded

a final certificate, the preliminary certificate must be verified no later than two

years after the commissioning of the installation.

www.sll.se