INNOVATION IN RENOVATION

Albertslund Municipality

Albertslund is a suburban municipality of the Danish capital Copenhagen and home to a population of 28,000. This modern town was a result of the low cost housing boom of the 1960s to accommodate the growing Copenhagen population and became a testing ground for new methods of urban development and town planning.

Such rapid urban development was not without problems leaving behind a legacy of poor quality buildings later causing difficulties for both the energy infrastructure and residents of the community. Endeavour Magazine looks at the way Albertslund has confronted these issues to become Denmark’s first 100% eco-certified municipality and recognised for its work raising awareness about climate change.

Development of the Albertslund conceptAlbertslund has operated a district heating plant and

transmission network since 1963 supplying a small number of existing farmhouses and a modest but growing number of affordable new social houses which proved popular with young families relocating from central Copenhagen. The subsequent growth in population fuelled by demand for low cost housing led to a construction boom which was so significant that the area came to be nicknamed as Denmark’s largest building site. The rapid rate of construction and limited budgets forced compromise both in terms of design and build quality, a fact which is further explained by Hans-Henrik Høg, Director of Albertslund District Heating:

“The rate of development from 1960 through to 1980 left us with a large number of badly designed and built homes.

“These buildings were mostly pre-fabricated and constructed using concrete with poor standards of insulation making them very energy intensive to heat and prone to damp issues because of inadequate ventilation.

“Aside from the problems this began to cause in terms of energy efficiency, we also became concerned about health and welfare of residents in the community.”

Facing the combined challenge of high fossil fuel costs and high demand due to poor energy efficiency further compounded by concerns for standards of living and household energy costs, decisions were taken to simultaneously reduce fuel costs and consumption throughout the supply area:

“Since the oil crisis we have significantly increased our investment in energy production from waste incineration and continued to drive down the use of fossil fuels.

“This approach also tackles the important issue of waste management as waste is used resourcefully for energy production rather than being sent for landfill.”

The local waste incineration plant commenced operations in 1977 however production was later moved out of town due to environmental concerns with Albertslund then investing in the waste incineration and recycling company Vestfor alongside several other Copenhagen Municipalities.

SUSTAINABILITY IN BUILDINGCenergia is a Danish energy specialist company with 30 years of experience. Its activities span initiation, planning and evaluation of demonstration projects, contribution to process and product development via energy planning and project management of international cooperation projects. Cenergia has realised a number of solar low energy demonstration projects in Britain and was repesented at the Ecobuild fair in London in march 2012.

Cenergia Energy ConsultantsCenergia ApSHerlev Hovedgade 195DK 2730 Herlev

T: +45 44660099F: +45 44660136E: Cenergia@Cenergia.dkW: www.cenergia.dk

The Solar Prism, engineered by Cenergia and other partners of two EUDP supported projects in Denmark, is an enhancement of the “Active House” concept ( www.activehouse.info ) providing a total zero-carbon home renovation solution in one complete installation. The Solar Prism is part of the so-called Solar Solutions concept from the Danish compagnies VELUX and Danfoss and it is designed to be installed into the flat roof of existing homes. It features a complete range of technologies designed to harvest solar energy, optimise energy efficiency and improve indoor climate using natural daylight, ventilation and heat recovery.

The elegant, out of the box building renovation solution incorporates a highly insulated façade developed in cooperation with Rockwool, roof windows from VELUX, a heatpump from Danfoss and both PV and thermal solar technology in keeping with the original building design and is fully customised to individual household needs.

Both for the Solar Prism as well as for housing renovation in general, a new and very efficient heat recovery ventilation solution has been developed. This is the ceiling mounted compact heat recovery ventilation system from Øland / Ecovent which includes building integrated duct work and up to 90% efficient heat recovery whilst providing simultaneous ventilation.

Albertslund Municipality, The Danish Social Housing Fund, Kuben Management, Rubow Architects and the Technological Institute in Denmark have been important partners in the mentioned development work

Albertslund Municipality

This sustainable approach to waste management marked an important first step in addressing just some of the issues affecting energy supply in the municipality but plans were to extend much further in line with government targets to reduce energy consumption linked with growing demand for renewal of the city:

“We set about on a major renovation programme to improve the standard of buildings in our community.

“We have been working very closely with a number of key technology partners to develop a complete package for improvement of each individual building through improved insulation, ventilation and use of sunlight.

“The entire solution is designed as a complete installation with little interference inside the property therefore causing minimal disruption to the residents whilst the renovation is completed.

“The traditional way of approaching this type of renovation is to move people out of their homes sometimes for up to a number of weeks while the work is carried out.

“We wanted to show that there is a better and more effective approach to building renovation.”

The result was a standardised and cost effective solution specifically for the improvement of prefabricated buildings that could be rolled out quickly in large scale whilst dramatically improving the energy efficiency and indoor environment of a wide range of building types. This was to become known as the “Albertslund Concept” and was successfully implemented using a test group of 9 buildings in 2011. The concept also exploits the typical flat roof building design through use of solar power to provide further source of clean energy for each home.

The complete home solution features insulated facades, advanced ventilation and heat recovery system, replacement windows, solar collectors for hot water and photovoltaic

solar cells for electricity together achieving a 70% reduction in energy consumption.

The success of the test project has led to Albertslund achieving the accolade of Nordic Energy Municipality 2011. This award recognises the municipality that has undertaken the most innovative energy projects supporting energy-related climate efforts in the Nordic countries. In being selected for the award Albertslund was recognised in particular by the Nordic Energy Municipality Committee for its dialogue with citizens and development of strong technical partnerships involved in the project.

The results from the test project are now being used as part of a renovation programme for 550 townhouses in Albertslund South with a further 1000 buildings due for renovation later this year using the same principles.Energy saving in the community

The Danish energy sector features strong regional autonomy for energy supply with local companies often owned by the municipalities or by the consumers themselves as co-operatives being responsible for utility supply including heat and electricity. Revenues are secured from direct billing of customers within the supply area and the supplier is responsible for provision of services on a not for profit basis with surplus revenues paid back to consumers through lower rates. Municipality suppliers are then awarded further subsidies from central government for achieving reductions in total energy consumption against a minimum set target of 2% annually. The Albertslund concept goes further in its efforts to reduce energy consumption by providing consumers with proactive tools and incentives for effective energy management as Hans-Henrik Explains:

“As this is a community based business it is in our interest to help our customers save and reduce energy consumption.

“We provide each customer with an individual green

Albertslund Municipality

account analysing energy use for the household and the information is used to reach practical solutions to save energy and improve efficiency.

“We have used the green accounts very effectively to reduce energy consumption and to reward our customers who save energy.

“Very simply, customers who save energy are rewarded through lower bills and those who don’t will pay more.”

Albertslund has made these green accounts available to view online allowing customers to check energy usage in real time and compare energy usage with their neighbours through a further green account summarising usage for each housing area.

Hans-Henrik, alongside a specialist team including Project Leader, Niels Hansen who is responsible for the Albertslund Energy Saving Actvities Plan and a key member of the team behind the Albertslund concept also operate a successful citizen involvement programme with a council of users representing each of the 50 housing areas in the district who meet regularly to discuss matters affecting the supply area. Community feedback is often used to develop strategies and action plans designed to improve services for consumers.

Efficient distribution Albertslund continues to invest in its district heating

infrastructure as a means of enhancing efficiency by further improving the distribution system. The current challenge is to reduce the amount of energy lost as heat to the atmosphere during transmission, currently around 20% from source to end user. Reduction in this level of loss is achieved through converting the system to operate at lower temperature which reduces the cost of heat production, an even more important factor considering a significant amount of municipal budget is spent on procurement of heat for the network. Albertslund

is also embarking on a series of projects to upgrade large sections of pipeline within the network and improve pipeline insulation therefore also reducing loss of water temperature during transmission. Hans-Henrik explains:

“One of the key challenges in managing any district heating network is keeping heat loss to a minimum. By reducing temperature of the system and by ensuring the pipeline is well-insulated water temperature can be maintained much more effectively. We are making a series of renovations to the network over the coming year designed to improve heat retention during transmission.

“Heat production comes at a price and with such a large network covering 97% of homes in the district we must ensure that distribution to the customer is as efficient as it can be.”

Setting the standardAlbertslund continues to set about making systematic

improvements across all areas of energy use from responsible heat production for the district heating system and investment in the transmission network to efficiently provide hot water for the entire community. Most impressively the Albertslund concept provides an example to the rest of the world as to how a standardised and cost effective approach to demand-side management can be implemented on a large scale whilst also ensuring minimal disruption to residents. Renovation of existing buildings can provide one of the most effective ways of improving energy efficiency by application of modern technology to even the most inefficient of building designs therefore significantly reducing demand. Clearly lessons learned from the past can provide opportunities for the future - there can be little doubt that the Albertslund concept sets a clear standard for how such projects should be approached throughout Europe.

Albertslund Municipalitywww.albertslund.dk+45 43 64 8692

Written by Martin White

www.littlegatepublishing.com