World Construction Network

Daily Newsletter

10 August 2023

Daily Newsletter

YIT receives €19m contract for Kannisto School expansion

The solution is to address the growing number of children within the basic education age bracket in the area.

Development and construction company YIT has been awarded a €19m turnkey contract by the City of Vantaa, Finland, to expand and spatially reorganise Kannisto School.

Under the client's project planning phase, the space and facade solutions of the building have already been planned and finalised.

Implementation planning for the school's construction is set to commence this month, with construction anticipated to start in November this year, as per initial estimates.

The expansion is expected to conclude in early 2025 while all modifications to the existing school are planned for completion later in that year.

YIT construction manager Timo Kuorikoski said: “We are happy to start implementing the project in Vantaa, where it will be possible to utilise YIT’s knowledge and technical solutions proven in YIT’s various school projects.”

The Kivistö region is witnessing a rise in the count of children within the basic education age bracket.

Plans were announced to expand the school's facilities in order to remedy this, with a specific focus on accommodating students in lower secondary education.

The school's youth facilities will also be converted into teaching spaces for three groups of children with disabilities.

Vantaa's director Pekka Wallenius said: “Kannisto School is an integral part of the comprehensive school network of the growing Kivistö area and will offer facilities for a total of almost 990 pupils when the expansion is completed.

“It is great that we can expand and make the necessary spatial reorganisation for a reforming comprehensive school, whose operating culture includes among its essential parts versatility and the opportunities offered by new learning environments.”

ESG 2.0 marks a shift towards stricter environmental rules

ESG is moving into a different era, which we call ESG 2.0. While ESG 1.0 was driven by voluntary corporate action, spurred by pressure from activist consumers and investors, ESG 2.0 is being driven by a new wave of government policies. The EU has taken the regulatory lead, with rules introduced or in the pipeline that will price emissions, regulate the use of the terms ‘ESG’ and ‘sustainability’ in marketing materials, and make ESG reporting mandatory. The US has taken a different approach, favoring less regulation and more financial support in the form of tax breaks for clean industry (renewables plus nuclear and hydrogen). China is planning to expand its emissions trading system to more sectors, decarbonize its heavy industry, and ramp up its use of renewables. The new policy direction is mainly motivated by the ambition to hit net zero emissions targets. But on top of this, governments are now competing for clean industry and trying to challenge China’s leadership on the production of the world’s green technologies such as solar panels and batteries, as well as the production and refinement of materials needed for energy transition such as lithium. These driving forces are leading to policy that will impact every sector, not just heavy industry, and will keep ESG near the top of the regulatory agenda over the longer term.