Can we build our future homes within the Paris accord?

What if we could design a home with a footprint within the Paris accord of?maximum 1.5 degrees temperature rise??A unique and visionary partnership between VELUX, EFFEKT Architects and MOE Engineers has developed a prototype home with a remarkably low CO2 footprint?

A key target within our?sustainability strategy ?is the vision to Build for Life with people and planet in mind. We teamed up with EFFEKT and MOE, and?worked with a number of?home scenarios and options, investigating the best constellation of price, indoor climate and carbon footprint.??

To begin with, we did not aim to reach a specific number, says Lone Feifer, director for sustainable buildings at VELUX. After calculating several scenarios?and testing the many ′what if` questions and constellations, we arrived at a great result for the concept Living Places, a prototype home designed by VELUX, EFFEKT and MOE, which emits?less than 4 kg CO2/m2/year.?- Using?a?lifecycle assessment?(LCA)?design tool, we worked with a simple version, studying sensibilities, says Lone Feifer and adds with VELUX sustainability strategy in mind:?Living Places works as a proof of concept. We want to not just say that buildings must be sustainable: We walk the talk, says Lone Feifer.?

Below 4 CO2/m2/y: The environmental impact of Living Places compared to a typical single family?house in Denmark. At this point, calculations show that we might be able to achieve a 70% emission reduction compared to an average Danish single-family house. Illustration: VELUX, EFFEKT, MOE?

The result is notably below the Danish building legislation demands from 2023; a maximum of 12 kg CO2/m2/y, while ‘the voluntary sustainability class' will have a maximum of 8,5.?

Even in 2029, when the CO2-maximum according to the current political agreement will be fully implemented, the allowed maximum will be higher than the Living Places emission: 7,5 kg in the building regulations and 5 in the voluntary sustainability class.?

- What we suggest goes further than the building regulations, the voluntary sustainability class and DGNB. Our aim is to stay within the Paris Accord threshold of 1.5 degrees, which we have committed to in our Sustainability Strategy for 2030, says Lone Feifer.?

The plan is that we build the prototypes in ‘Jernbanebyen’ in Copenhagen and later move them to a yet to be decided location outside the city. This flexibility is possible, because of screw pile foundations, that also contributes to a great part of the CO2?savings.?

- Enem?rke & Petersen are not only our contractors, but also our partners, because you cannot significantly reduce the footprint without a strong collaboration with the contractor. The ‘buildability’ is vital, because we are not just working to build a single house in 2023. We want to scale and drive a change across the industry and the broader market, says Lone Feifer.?

A thought experiment: If all smaller homes Denmark were built?like Living Places, an annual saving of approximately one million tons of CO2 would be saved. Illustration: VELUX, EFFEKT, MOE?

We have focused on the building?envelopes, to achieve CO2?savings. Behind the load-bearing wood there is wood fiber insulation. Emissions increase slowly over the LCA theoretical lifetime of 50 years due to the heating of the house, maintenance, and renovation, and when the house is demolished and the wood is burned, the total CO2 emissions go up, so you end up with a total average of less than four kilos of CO2 per m2?per year.?

With the 130 m2?prototype, we reach a total annual emission of 500 kg CO2. This is significantly lower than the Danish Building Research Institutes reference house of 170 m2, which we use as benchmark. The reference house emits around 1,900 kg CO2?in one year. That is about four times as much (see LCA illustration).?

- We are confident that we can stay within the calculations. We have calculated many?times, but at the same time it is important to say that we do this in an experimental spirit, so do not see it as the final result. In VELUX we say that ′one experiment is better than 1000?expert assumptions` Lone Feifer says.?

Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gYgc9G_d ?

The Living Places will have natural ventilation, daylight, and fresh air. We visually let in nature and the sky, allowing inhabitants the best possible options?to follow the light through the day and night and the changes in nature over the year. All illustrations: VELUX, EFFEKT, MOE.?