Navigating the Future of HVAC: Sustainability, Circularity, and the "Two Wallets" problem
The landscape of the built environment is shifting rapidly. What was once a conversation dominated solely by traditional ROI and basic energy efficiency has evolved into a complex, multi-dimensional challenge centered around embodied carbon, circular business models, and public health.
In this episode of the Air Quality Matters podcast, I sit down with Mikael Börjesson , Future Solutions and Public Affairs Director at Swegon Group . Operating at the dynamic intersection of innovation, sustainability, and European public policy, Mikael offers a rare, insider’s perspective on what it means to be a major manufacturing player navigating these changes in 2026.
If you are a professional in the built environment, air quality sector, or HVAC design, this conversation provides a vital pulse-check on where the industry is heading—and the friction points holding it back.
Key Themes Discussed
Mikael and I unpack several massive shifts occurring across the European sector, providing a roadmap for the near future of healthy buildings.
The "Two Wallets" Paradigm: Mikael explains how mature investors no longer look at just the financial cost of a project. There is now a second "sustainability wallet" accounting for CO2 equivalent and embodied carbon. Understanding how these two budgets interact is becoming essential for securing modern projects.
The Realities of the Circular Economy: Moving an industry away from an "install, use, and waste" model is monumental. Mikael shares how Swegon is moving beyond pilot programs to execute real-world projects utilizing remanufactured air handling unit (AHU) parts and refurbished steel, proving that true circularity can be achieved without technical compromise.
The Push for Harmonized Data: As the demand for Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) skyrockets, the lack of standardised calculation methods creates chaos for designers trying to compare products. The episode explores the critical role Eurovent are playing in levelling the playing field before slower legislative bodies step in.
Building Intelligence and Interoperability: Why does a modern car gracefully translate data from 35 complex sensors into a simple "service oil" light, while a building with 200 sensors leaves facility managers completely overwhelmed? The discussion explores how AI and interoperability must evolve to prevent building operators from drowning in data.
Standout Insights and Intriguing Perspectives
One of the most striking moments in the conversation is the discussion around the public health disconnect. Simon highlights the Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) associated with poor indoor air quality—a staggering 2,200 years lost per 100,000 population. This is nearly equivalent to the societal damage of smoking and twice that of road traffic deaths. Yet, as Mikael points out, we still lack the public awareness and tools to make this hazard tangible for the average citizen. You can see the grey dust on an apartment wall, but connecting that to health outcomes remains a frustrating hurdle.
Furthermore, Mikael offers a slightly controversial, yet brilliant take on what is truly hindering industry innovation. When asked what he hopes we stop talking about by 2031, he points to the rigid chain of command in construction. In a compelling twist, he suggests:
"It's not the weakest part that is the problem in our chain, it's the strongest part that is a problem in our chain because that's hindering the development." To fully grasp the nuance of what Mikael means by this—and which stakeholders might need to move out of their comfort zones—tune in!
The Status Quo is Expiring
If the conversation with Mikael Börjesson proved anything, it is that the built environment is out of time for theoretical debates. The days of treating sustainability as a corporate social responsibility checkbox are dead. Today, carbon is a currency, and if your business does not know how to spend from the "sustainability wallet," you are already losing ground to competitors who do.
The most disruptive takeaway is the myth that circularity inherently drives up costs or degrades performance. We are already seeing live, commercial projects deploying remanufactured AHU parts and refurbished components at cost-parity. The technology is not the bottleneck; the traditional, stubborn stakeholder chain is.
Furthermore, as an industry, we are suffering from a chronic inability to market the value of our own solutions. We install brilliant systems that operate silently, removing the perception of risk—and thereby eroding the perceived value of our work over time. If poor indoor air quality is causing nearly as much societal harm as smoking, it is time to borrow from the automotive sector's playbook: use smart algorithms to translate complex environmental data into simple, actionable insights that facility managers and the public cannot ignore.
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