Eco Factor: Sustainable architecture designed to be powered by renewable energy.
Children in Hørsholm, north of Copenhagen, will soon have the greenest childcare center in Denmark. The center, which is due to be completed by November 2010, will be energy-efficient and generate more energy that what it actually consumes using renewable sources of energy.
Commissioned by Hørsholm Council in cooperation with VKR Holding and designed by Christensen & Co. Architects, the center will be home to state-of-the-art energy saving and generating technologies that promise to protect natural resources.
The 4300-square-meter facility will feature low rise cedar-clad houses around its perimeters and an angular roof that rises and falls like a series of waves. This unique construction will allow generous amounts of natural light and ventilation to enter the perimeter to reduce the building’s overall energy demands.
The concrete to be used for the floors and walls of the structure will optimize the performance of the building by serving as heat mass to store solar heat during the day to heat the interiors after dark. Moreover, the building will also include generous amounts of insulation to ensure that the complex consumes less energy than the maximum set by the 2015 Danish building regulations.
The facades of the roof are equipped with 50-square-meters of solar collectors that provide heating and hot water and 250-square-meters of photovoltaic panels that produce about 8KWh per square meter, which is much more than the energy requirements of the building. The childcare center will sell excess renewable energy to the grid during eight months of the year and buy renewable energy during the four dark months.
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