Green Lighthouse is Denmark's first public carbon neutral house. The house has been built in less than a year in a close public/private partnership.
The partners are the University of Copenhagen, VELUX, VELFAC, the Danish University and Property Agency (UBST) and the City of Copenhagen.
Green Lighthouse is home to the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen. It is a one-stop-shop for students where they can get answers to questions about their studies, examens and their future carriere. The house also has a faculty club, which serves as a meeting place for researchers and others with a connection to the Faculty of Science.
Green Lighthouse is built by a consortium consisting of Hellerup Byg, Christensen & Co. Architects and COWI. Green Ligthhouse was officially inaugurated on 20 October 2009.
This first carbon neutral building in Denmark will serve as the student services building for theUniversity of Copenhagen’s Faculty of Science. Inside, students will be able to receive career advice, study and lounge, and administration offices and a faculty club for scientists will also be housed there.
To achieve carbon neutrality, many green design features were incorporated to reduce energy use and provide a holistic and healthy indoor environment for students and faculty.Daylightingand natural ventilation are provided by means of the carefully placedVELUXskylights and windows. Additional lighting comes fromLEDs, which are powered by an array ofsolar panelsplaced on the slanted roof. The building itself was oriented to maximize its solar resources, while windows and doors are recessed and covered with automatic solar shades to minimize direct solar heat gain inside the building. Additionally, a geothermal heat pump and district heating system help heat and cool the building.
Architect Michael Christensen told Inhabitat: “As architects we are pretty proud of the fact that 75% of the reduction of the energy consumption is a direct consequence of architectural design. It shows that sustainable design is not a question of stuffing the building with expensive high-tech gadgets, but that it starts with good old fashioned common sense.”
The newcarbon neutral buildingwill serve as an excellent example for the upcoming climate talks in December. The excellent video below explains the sustainable features of the project. It was made by London based Squint Opera animators and nominated for CGArchitect.com’s Best Overall Architectural Film 2009.
