Västerås City’s low-energy building concept

Region: City of Västerås, Southern Sweden
Implemented on: Local level
Target group: Building owners

Summary:

The City of Västerås has developed a model for the sale of municipal land in which the purchasers of the building lot sign an agreement that binds them to construct a low-energy building on the site. Within two years at the latest, the property owner must provide documented results. A comprehensive information and advice package is part of the model, incl. information e.g. via a popular TV programme. The concept includes also both a definition what is to be considered as low-energy building as well as a model for energy balance-sheet calculations, monitoring and evaluation. By that, the City of Västerås is able to control all new construction projects carried out on municipally owned land.

Objectives:

• Contributing to regional, national and EU energy and climate targets;
• Contributing to the local energy plan.

Funding/Costs:

No additional costs for the City of Västerås, as it is about making strategic use of its building land by selling lots for construction with specific energy requirements.

Results:

• Energy assessments and airtightness tests in about 30 buildings showed, that buildings were well-constructed from an energy-efficiency point of view and results exceeded expectations;
• In autumn 2012, more than 900 dwellings have been either commenced or completed in low-energy buildings.

Lessons learnt:

• The model is working in reality, and excellent relationships were established between the land purchaser and the supplier of the building;
• The model lead also to increased use of district heating, e.g. for washing machines, driers and dishwashers, and thereby reducing electricity consumption. A new type of district heating system has been developed, known as low-temperature district heating, entailing reduced system losses.

Details:

English Pdf

Swedish Pdf