The Highest BREEAM In-Use Score Ever in Finland Awarded to VILPE’s Vantaa Office
In 2025, VILPE’s Vantaa office achieved Finland’s highest ever BREEAM In-Use (BIU) score, reaching 86.5%. BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) is an international certification system used to evaluate the environmental performance and sustainability of buildings.
When the family-owned company, which manufactures ventilation products, decided to build a new office in Vantaa, Finland, it was clear from the start that environmental considerations would be a priority. Initially, VILPE aimed for the BREEAM In-Use Excellent level, requiring approximately 72–74.8 raw points. By making several additional practical improvements, the score rose to 86.5%, earning the Outstanding level certification.
“In this era of greenwashing, the BREEAM certification was important to us because we wanted to verify our environmental actions. Initially, our goal was reaching the Excellent level, but when we saw that with reasonable extra efforts, we could reach the Outstanding level, we naturally decided to take the necessary steps,” says Tuomas Saikkonen, CEO of VILPE
The building in Vantaa has both office and warehouse spaces. The total area of the building is 3,575 square meters, of which VILPE owns approximately 2,200 m² and the construction company JHM-Invest Group approximately 1,400 m². The property has ground source heat pumps and solar panels, and energy consumption is measured and closely monitored. Thanks to building automation technology, for example, lighting, ventilation, heating, and cooling also operate as needed. In addition, the building has a green roof.
For VILPE, the building was a 5.25-million-euro investment. The upgrade from the Excellent level to the Outstanding level required additional investments, the costs of which were about 200,000 euros, which is a reasonable increase in relation to the total project costs and the value of the building. The additional investments included, among other things, planting arrangement of the outdoor areas, programmable blinds for the office windows, as well as leak alarms for the main water meter and the refrigerant systems.
Importance of Building Automation
The overall project was managed by Timo Anttila, VILPE’s Technical Director.
According to Anttila, reaching the high score was made easier by modern building automation systems, which allowed for flexible integration of various monitoring and control solutions.
“With a modern, open-interface automation platform, adding new measurements and controls is easy. It must be simple for both users and administrators – otherwise its full potential won’t be realized,” Timo Anttila
BREEAM In-Use focuses on the environmental performance and maintenance of existing buildings. Among its categories, energy consumption and water usage efficiency are the most critical, as they carry the highest weight in the evaluation.
The energy category was handled efficiently and cost-effectively, as VILPE could reuse the same energy management system that had been successfully implemented at its Korsholm headquarters and factory.
“A pleasant surprise during the project was realizing how far we could go with the solutions we had already applied at our Korsholm factory. The system saves us tens of thousands of euros annually there, and it was easy to adapt the concept to fit Vantaa,” says Timo Anttila
The BREEAM assessment for VILPE’s Vantaa office was carried out by Heidi Ahoste from Sustera. She emphasized that the achievement was due to consistently strong performance across all evaluated areas, not just one strength.
“To exceed the 85% threshold for Outstanding, the building must be good across the board. A single strong area isn’t enough, but you need high scores in many categories,” says Heidi Ahoste
“The project validated that we are acting according to our values”
According to CEO Saikkonen, reaching the Outstanding level not only increased the value of the Vantaa office but also strengthened the organization’s knowledge and expertise.
“The project validated that we are acting according to our values and taught us a great deal about environmentally friendly construction. We work with building technology daily, and this project enhanced our expertise,” says Tuomas Saikkonen.
BREEAM Certification has several benefits.
“When a building is energy-efficient, it is cheaper to maintain. It also helps increase property value and ensures that tenants can operate in environmentally friendly premises,” says Ahoste.
VILPE Sense Monitors the Entire Roof of the Building
At the Vantaa office, the company’s own VILPE Sense system is also extensively utilized, monitoring the building’s roof and envelope for humidity damage. VILPE’s Product Manager Kimmo Kujala explains that the building uses both a humidity control and a leak detection system: a total of 109 leak detectors and 14 roof fans have been installed on the roof, one of which ventilates the crawl space. The VILPE Sense humidity control system ventilates roof structures as needed, and VILPE Sense leak detectors help locate leaks. According to Kujala, sensors have also been placed elsewhere in the building’s envelope as part of VILPE Sense product development.
The roof insulation material was chosen as a combination of EPS insulation and rigid wool due to the loads of the solar panels. Since solar panels are heavy, it is difficult to monitor the condition of the roof underneath them without smart sensors. In addition, fastening solutions are not harmonized in Europe, and therefore solar panels multiply the risk of damage. The same applies to the green roof area: when vegetation covers the roof surface, possible humidity damage can easily remain hidden.
VILPE Sense measures humidity in the insulation layer and warns of leaks quickly, thus avoiding extensive and environmentally burdensome repairs. The VILPE Sense system was not part of the BREEAM In-Use assessment, but it generally supports the building’s environmental friendliness and long lifecycle by reducing the environmental burden of humidity damage and its repairs.
What is BREEAM?
- BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is the world’s oldest and one of the most respected environmental certification systems for buildings.
- The certification evaluates, among other things, energy efficiency, water usage, indoor environment, material choices, waste management, and the building’s lifecycle impacts. It also considers accessibility and transportation solutions, such as proximity to public transport and facilities that support cycling.
- There are six levels: Acceptable, Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent, and Outstanding.
- Outstanding is the highest possible level, achieved by only a small percentage of buildings worldwide.
- In Finland, the certificate is widely used, but buildings at the Outstanding level are still rare.