36 apartments at Hringhamar receive the Nordic Swan Ecolabel

30% of building projects in Hafnarfjörður are Nordic Swan Ecolabelled

The new building at Hringhamar 9-19 in the Hamranes area in Hafnarfjörður is the largest residential project to receive the Nordic Swan Ecolabel in Iceland. 36 apartments were certified earlier this week, and never have there been more apartments to receive the certification at once. Built by MótX.

Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, Icelandic Minister of the Environment, Energy and Climate, was present at the ceremony. “It is a good investment when the municipal authorities in Hafnarfjörður decide to grant a discount on fees,” he said, among other things, when congratulating those involved on the successful build. He said that the town authorities had shown foresight. “What’s the result? The vast majority of projects in the Nordic Swan Ecolabel process, are located here in Hafnarfjörður. It is good for the nation, good for the municipality and will be by far the best for those who will live in these houses,” the minister said.

Mayor Rósa Guðbjartsdóttir is very pleased to see more buildings in the group of Nordic Swan Ecolabelled housing here in Hafnarfjörður. “The municipality has contributed to encourage environmentally friendly buildings by repaying part of the plot price. This phase is the harvest of that decision. I congratulate MótX,” she says.

A total of 30% of construction projects are in the Nordic Swan Ecolabel process in Hafnarfjörður and a total of 45% of residential buildings are in the certification process, according to the Environment Agency of Iceland.

Aim to build more environmentally friendly buildings

Gunnlaugur Ragnarsson, CFO of MótX, says that at the beginning of the construction, the company’s owners decided that the building would be built to meet the requirements of the Nordic Swan Ecolabel.

“It was an easy decision for MótX to go this route, the company was already on the path of building its buildings in an environmentally friendly way,” he says.

“The project that has now been granted the Nordic Swan Ecolabel is the first of three phases in the company’s construction project in Hamranes, which is in the process of being certified for the Nordic Swan Ecolabel. In this phase, there are 36 apartments that receive the certification, making this the largest project to date that receives the Nordic Swan Ecolabel in Iceland, when it comes to the number of residential units. A total of 164 apartments will be certified when all phases are completed.”

Taking big green steps

Gunnlaugur says that the company took a big step towards green building practices in 2019 and that all apartments that MótX has built since then have been built with that in mind. “An example is new ways of ventilation, where you work with an air conditioning system for each apartment. It ensures frequent air exchange and a fresh, dust-free atmosphere, as well as lowering heating costs and counteracting moisture build-up. MótX has also used blue-green environmental solutions in the finishing of the plots and surroundings,” he says.

The Nordic Swan is the official ecolabel of the Nordic countries. It was established by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 1989. The main goal of the Nordic Swan Ecolabel is to reduce the environmental impact of products or services and to make it easier for consumers to choose more environmentally friendly options. In Iceland, the Environment Agency of Iceland is the administrator of the Nordic Swan Ecolabel.