Laakso Joint Hospital addresses supply chain carbon emission concerns with innovative heat exchangers

Figure 1. Laakso Joint Hospital is still under construction in 2025, but its commitment to well-being extends beyond healthcare.

Illustrations by Laakson LATU

The move will deliver a carbon footprint for this vital cooling equipment that is up to 60 percent lower compared to conventional Alfa Laval heat exchangers. This success story demonstrates how joint sustainability ambitions from steel suppliers to the end-customer can significantly reduce carbon emissions throughout the value chain.

A cool answer for a burning need

Located in the heart of Finland’s capital, Laakso Joint Hospital is still under construction in 2025, but its commitment to well-being extends beyond healthcare – it cares about the long-term impact of its infrastructure too. 

That’s why it’s opted for the five gasketed plate heat exchangers, built by Alfa Laval and incorporating Circle Green stainless steel from Outokumpu for the heat exchanger channel plates, along with SSAB Zero™ steel for the frame and pressure plate.

Incorporating efficient plate heat exchangers in cooling systems offers dependable temperature control - essential for both patient care and healthcare work environments.

Figure 2. The new Laakso Joint Hospital features Alfa Laval Concept Zero™ TL10 gasketed plate heat exchangers that have up to 60 percent lower carbon footprint compared to conventional Alfa Laval heat exchangers.

But heating and cooling represent a big part of hospital energy budgets, impacting both costs and overall sustainability. To address emissions in the value chain as well as day-to-day operations, the Laakso Joint Hospital alliance searched for how to get their concerns under control.

Low-emission steel that lives up to its name

Outokumpu Circle Green stainless steel met the needs of both Alfa Laval and the hospital. Top of the list was how it dramatically reduces the carbon footprint of the heat exchanger construction. But it’s also exceptionally durable and corrosion resistant as well as ensuring efficient heat transfer at the heart of the heat exchanger.

Circle Green is the world’s first towards zero stainless steel with a product-specific carbon footprint calculation for each delivery. 
Thanks to the use of low-carbon electricity, recycled and sustainable raw materials, and efficient production processes, Circle Green achieves a footprint up to 93% lower than the global industry average*. 

Today, it’s already helping more than 40 leading companies across various sectors cut their climate impact significantly.

“Decarbonization is not just a goal anymore – it's a necessity, requiring companies to invest and implement energy-efficient and low-emission technologies, such as heat exchangers, to accelerate the green transition. And there we need Nordic likeminded frontrunners to drive the progress.”

says Rolf Schencking, President for Business Line Advanced Materials at Outokumpu.

Figure 3. Rolf Schencking, President for Business Line Advanced Materials at Outokumpu.

Laakso Joint Hospital joins that group as a fresh example, of how cross-industry collaboration - from steel producers like Outokumpu and SSAB to technology leaders like Alfa Laval - means construction projects can meet and even exceed their sustainability targets.

“Our heat exchangers already contribute to reducing our customers' emissions during operation. By utilizing low-emission steel, we are also decreasing emissions in their upstream value chain,”

says Julien Gennetier, Vice President Energy Division, Alfa Laval.

”This collaboration serves as a model for how local initiatives can have a global impact, pushing the boundaries and scaling up the usage of low-emission materials. This results in the lowest carbon footprint ever measured for an Alfa Laval gasketed plate heat exchanger.”

Cutting climate impacts together

For Laakso Joint Hospital, working with like-minded partners to achieve their vision has been crucial. 

“Sustainability has played an important role in the Laakso Joint Hospital project with ambitious life-cycle goals that have been considered at every phase of the project from design and engineering to construction and building maintenance. Sharing this deeper understanding with key suppliers and being able to install solutions that not only provide efficient cooling for the hospital but that also have a lower carbon footprint is a great contribution to our mission”

says Property Manager Antti Hyökki at the Real Estate Limited Company Laakso Joint Hospital.

With the installation of the gasketed plate heat exchangers in 2025, Laakso Joint Hospital will continue its journey to become a beacon of sustainable infrastructure and healthcare innovation, demonstrating how forward-thinking solutions address today’s challenges and safeguard the planet for generations to come.

“I think it helps us push the boundaries further, see what is possible, and send signals to the market about where we would like the industry to move.” concludes Britta Warnke, Senior Vice President and Commercial Director for Business Line Advanced Materials at Outokumpu.

Watch the video to hear Alfa Laval, Outokumpu, and SSAB discuss the shift to sustainable materials, technology, and the reduced carbon footprint of heat exchangers.

*) Global average carbon footprint of stainless steel (2024): 7 kg CO₂e per kg of stainless steel (Outokumpu’s calculation based on data provided by CRU, worldstainless and Kobolde & Partners AB). Outokumpu Circle Green CO₂ emissions: down to 0.5 kilos of CO₂e per kg of stainless steel.