Tomaten 1, Visionsbild. Photo: Wihlborgs Fastigheter AB

Peab and SSAB with Ruukki Construction and the property company Wihlborgs, present the world’s first building with fossil-free steel in Lund, Sweden. The building’s wall and roof structures have been designed and produced by Ruukki Construction. Parts of the building were manufactured using fossil-free steel from SSAB.

Peab is now the very first construction company to use fossil-free steel in a construction project. The building in Hasslanda in Lund is an industrial facility covering 6,000 square meters. The fossil-free SSAB steel has been used in the production of sandwich panels made by Ruukki Construction in Finland for parts of the building walls. Property owner Wihlborgs is the customer and developer, and the tenant will be contract manufacturer Inpac.

“We’re extremely proud to be part of a historic shift for our industry. The building is a starting point for work to reduce the climate impact in the steel industry on a broad front. It’s a real community building project and, together with Ruukki and SSAB, Peab is now further strengthening itself to meet its customers’ growing demands for more sustainable material choices,” says Jesper Göransson, CEO of Peab.

“It’s amazing to see what great steps forward can be taken with sustainable development when it’s done together with others – the project with Peab and Ruukki shows what is actually possible right now. For SSAB, it’s not just about reducing our own emissions with fossil-free steel, but also about contributing to reducing the carbon footprint in other parts of the value chain,” says Christina Friborg, Head of Sustainability at SSAB.

Fossil-free steel facade panel. Photo: Anna Malm

“We can only achieve the industry’s goal of climate neutrality if we collaborate and together develop products and buildings that make a real difference. This project is an important step in this direction, and as the customer we have a major responsibility to constantly raise the level of our own requirements, so that the entire chain is characterized by high sustainability ambitions,” says Ulrika Hallengren, CEO of Wihlborgs.

The construction and civil engineering industry aims to reach climate neutrality by 2045, which requires the use of new materials and products with a low climate impact on a broad front. In new construction, the manufacturing of materials and products accounts for the vast majority of climate impact.

The construction and real estate sectors currently account for about one fifth of Sweden’s domestic carbon dioxide emissions.

SSAB steel manufactured using HYBRIT technology will be on the market in 2026, enabling companies in the construction sector to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the steel segment.

HYBRIT technology means that iron ore is directly reduced using hydrogen and fossil-free electricity, as opposed to coal and coke, which are used in a blast furnace process. The residual product is then water rather than carbon dioxide.