SUPER SUSTAINABLE

Super Sustainable has moved to www.supersustainable.org

2011-10-10T15:48:00.002+02:00

Welcome to visit the site!

/Fredrik Kjellgren

Super Sustainable Thinktank

TRAIN OF IDEAS TO ARRIVE IN GOTHENBURG

2011-05-04T18:59:00.002+02:00

Hamburg is the European Green capital of 2011. With its large redeveloped harbor areas there might be much to learn for Swedish politicians, architects and city planners who are facing similar problems in cities like Göteborg, Malmö, Helsingborg and Stockholm. Now Hamburg has been generous enough to export their ideas using a ”train of ideas”. The train will be in Gothenburg 6-10 May. Visit it at the central station!

More info

London Parties on Solar Power!

2011-04-28T22:02:00.015+02:00

When recently visiting London a friend took me to a party on a canal in East London. It seemed like any other party that would occur in one of the major cities of the world; good music, friendly people, sun and a floating raft, all the basic ingredients for a nice London afternoon. However, there was one major difference with this party, IT WAS POWERED BY THE SUN! Sure enough after the acoustic artists had played their sets and as the sun went down everything just kept on rolling but it was all powered by batteries that had been charged with the suns energy.

The proceeds of the party also raised money for Solar Aid. It was organised by a group called Finding Infinity, whose aim as their website suggests is to create a revolution to transform the world into being run entirely on renewable resources. When speaking to the organisers of the party their message was fairly clear; "It's about showing people that it's possible! Having parties is just a fun way of getting people involved." Finding Infinity plan to do another event soon, but according to their blog next time the party will be simultaneously held in Mexico, London and Melbourne.
http://www.findinginfinity.com/
http://www.solar-aid.org/

Small Scale Energy Production Is Possible

2011-04-01T09:07:00.008+02:00

The Swedish newspaper Göteborgs Posten feature an article on the 11/03/24 entitled "Hon gör egen el + och säljer" (She makes her own electricity and sells it). Laila Nilsson, 72, has become the first private person in Gothenburg to produce and sell energy to the major Gothenburg energy companies. She first installed solar panels to compliment the energy produced by her geothermal heat pump, she now has 30 solar panels on her property and produces a surplus of energy that she is able to sell back to the main energy network.

Göteborg Energi's Nils Hammar commented in the article that they welcome and encourage others to follow Nilsson's example. Small scale energy production is said to be not that common in Sweden due to the inhibiting costs involved and the relatively low cost of energy from the grid. In Germany, by comparison, small scale energy production is apparently more common due to the fact that it is subsidised and supported by the government. Nilsson invested 34,000 EUR (48,000 USD) in her solar panels, money she saved over the last 16 years by using her heat pump.

William McDonough on Cradle to Cradle

2011-03-14T15:49:00.007+01:00

Cradle To Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (North Point Press, 2002), the quintessential book by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, revolutionized the way we think about sustainable design. Watch William present their ideas on Ted.com here!

SS goes to London

2011-02-21T10:31:00.006+01:00

...to the Ecobuild conference. Joakim Kaminsky will hold two lectures regarding both Super Sustainables city planning visions and Kjellgren Kaminsky Architectures passive houses.

SS to take part in “Cities of the future” conference

2011-02-16T08:37:00.001+01:00

Super Sustainable will participate in the “Cities of the future” conference which is to take place in Stockholm, Sweden 22-25 May. Right now we are preparing our vision which will take on an holistic approach to environmental challenges of cities situated nearby water.

More info:
Cities of the future

SUPER SUSTAINABLE AT ÄLVRUMMET

2010-09-22T13:49:00.004+02:00

On thursday, 23/9 2010, Joakim Kaminsky will discuss the future urban development of central Gothenburg and its riversides. See you there!

EXHIBITION AT EKOCENTRUM

2010-09-22T13:43:00.002+02:00

The Super Sutainable City exhibition now moves on to Ecocentrum in Gothenburg. Welcome!

Jönköping By Bike

2010-09-06T23:03:00.006+02:00

The municipality of Jönköping has presented 3 strategies for the future development of the city until 2050. Jönköping is planned to be one of the main train stations along the new speed train track, “Götalandsbanan”. Moreover it will be connected to the Europe tracks and all this gives Jönköping a unique position. Trains with the speed of 300 km/h decreases the distances and creates commuting possibilities between Jönköping and cities like Stockholm, Gothenburg and Copenhagen.

We Are You and Super Sustainable have presented a 4th strategy for the future of Jönköping, a strategy where the focus of interest is located inside an area defined south of Munksjön.

Instead of doing as in the strategies from the municipality and extend the city outwards should the leading principle be to densify and expand the city as close as possible to the existing city centre.

Guiding points in the urban planning have been to create:

- Small neighbourhoods with identity

- Main paths with different characteristics

- A mixed program

- Variation in spatial experiences

- Possibilites for healthy and environmentally friendly living

- An average density of at least 70 dw/ha.

and of course...

- A town where everybody use a bike!

See the whole project at www.weareyou.se .

PCM (Phase Changing Materials)

2010-08-02T09:28:00.014+02:00

Nowadays, building construction is increasingly carried out using modern lightweight materials and large glass surfaces. Lightweight constructions lack thermal-storage capacity, so room temperatures may quickly rise to a level that is equal to or even higher than the temperature outside; moreover, balancing the temperature between day and night time always leads to huge amounts of energy waste. This make scientists search for new solutions. One of the options is to develop energy storage devices.
Thermal storage is an efficient way of energy conservation possible by the incorporation of latent heat (concealed heat) storage in building products. Energy storage in the walls, ceiling and floors of buildings may be enhanced by applying suitable phase change materials (PCMs) within these surfaces to capture solar energy directly and increase human comfort by maintaining the temperature in the desired interval for a longer period of time.
PCMs absorb and release heat when the material changes from one phase to another. Solid-liquid phase change is the main phase change of interest since other types, such as liquid-gas phase change materials, are generally not practicable for most energy storage applications. As a matter of fact, liquid-gas phase changes involve large changes in volume or pressure when going from the liquid to the gas phase, which prevent effective implementation. Some materials exhibit solid/solid phase changes, in which the crystalline structure is changed at a certain temperature. These are available in limited temperature ranges.

Figure 1: Material Phase-change

How does it work? Initially, unlike conventional energy storage materials, when solid-liquid PCMs reach the temperature at which they change phase (their melting point), they absorb large amounts of heat without a significant rise in temperature. Despite the heat input, the temperature of the material stays relatively constant, while the phase change is taking place (Figure 1). When the temperature around a liquid material falls, the PCM solidifies and releases its stored latent heat.
The simplest and cheapest phase change material is water. The freezing temperature of water is fixed at 0°C. But what if you require this heat at a temperature other than zero? Within the human comfort range of 20° C to 30°C, some PCMs are very effective. They store 5 to 14 times more heat per unit volume than conventional storage materials such as water, masonry, or rock. [1]
PCMs can be used in a number of ways, such as thermal energy storage whereby heat or coolness can be stored from one process or period in time, and used at a later date or different location for space heating, hot water, air conditioning systems or generating electricity.
For example, a revolutionary new drywall, incorporating one third phase changing material, has the same heat storage capacity as a 23 cm thick brick wall in the critical temperature range for living comfort of 22 to 26 °C. It works by embedding "phase changing microcapsules" from BASF called Micronal into drywall, and is sold in Europe as KNAUF PCM Smartboard. The phase change materials inside the BASF capsules keep a room cool in much the same way that ice cubes chill a drink, by absorbing heat as they melt. Each polymer capsule contains paraffin waxes that melt at around room temperature, enabling them to keep the temperature of a room constant throughout the day (Figure 2). [2]

Figure 2: ThermalCORE, a phase-changing drywall known in Europe as KNAUF PCM Smartboard

All in all, useful PCMs should release and absorb large amounts of energy. To do this they need to have a large latent heat and to be as dense as possible. Having a fixed and clearly determined phase-change temperature is also of great importance which means the PCM needs to freeze and melt as in a small temperature range as possible. In addition, a PCM should remain stable and unchanged over many freeze/melt cycles and should keep its energy storage capability for quite a long time.

References
1. http://www.pcmproducts.net/
2. http://www.energyefficiency.basf.com/ecp1/micronal/study_effect_of_micronal
3. http://www.micronal.de/portal/streamer?fid=443847
4. http://www.deltamembranes.com/pdf/DELTA-COOL24_2007.pdf
5. http://www.thermalcore.info/ThermalCore.pdf
6. http://www.rubitherm.com/english/index.htm
7. http://www.micronal.de/portal/streamer?fid=381231

Airborne Wind Power

2010-07-08T11:44:00.011+02:00

"There is enough energy in high-altitude winds to power civilization 100 times over; and sooner or later, we're going to learn to tap into the power of winds and use it to run civilization." Says Ken Caldeira, Professor of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science. [1]

It doesn't matter how much you use it. It's still there every day and it's free! Wind energy is viable, clean, plentiful and can even be cost effective with today's recent wind turbines. Wind at higher altitudes are faster and more consistent than winds near the Earth’s surface. The total wind energy in the jet streams is roughly 100 times the global energy demand. [2]

Several technologies have been proposed that aim at harnessing wind power at high altitudes. Most of them are still at an early stage of development; however, Magenn Power plans to start manufacturing its Magenn Air Rotor System (MARS) in 2010-11. (Figure 1)

Magenn Power's high altitude wind turbine called MARS is a Wind Power Anywhere™ solution with distinct advantages over existing Conventional Wind Turbines and Diesel Generating Systems including: global deployment, lower costs, better operational performance, and greater environmental advantages. MARS is a lighter-than-air tethered wind turbine that rotates about a horizontal axis in response to wind, generating electrical energy. This electrical energy is transferred down the 1000-foot tether for immediate use, or to a set of batteries for later use, or to the power grid. Helium sustains MARS and allows it to ascend to a higher altitude than traditional wind turbines. MARS captures the energy available in the 600 to 1000-foot low level and nocturnal jet streams that exist almost everywhere. MARS rotation also generates the "Magnus effect" which provides additional lift, keeps the MARS stabilized, and positions it within a very controlled and restricted location to adhere to FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) & Transport Canada guidelines. [3]

While Magenn Power has made what looks like a spinning, helium-filled blimp, Joby Energy's turbines fly by the same principle as kites. Lifted by the winds, they give the appearance of a flying frame ( Figure 2). Helicopter-like rotors keep Sky WindPower's device afloat while also being the turbine's rotors ( Figure 3).

Last but not least Magenn wind turbine is very light and safe and can be located in many more places than ground-based wind power, such as urban areas, off-shore or any other place which is in emergency need of energy. ”It's difficult in many countries to build transmission lines and generating capacity.” said Anthony Pizarro, director of corporate development at Magenn company. ”It makes more sense to have some autonomous source of power right there at that one spot.”

References
1. Discovery Channel, Project Earth, Infinite Winds episode
2. Roberts, B.W.; Shepard, D.H.; Caldeira, K.; Cannon, M.E.; Eccles, D.G.; Grenier, A.J.; Freidin, J.F. Harnessing high-altitude wind power. IEEE Trans. Energy Convers. 2007, 22, 136-144
3. http://www.magenn.com/index.php
4. http://www.jobyenergy.com/
5. http://www.skywindpower.com/

EnergyFlexHouse

2010-06-11T12:45:00.004+02:00

EnergyFlexHouse is a Danish high-tech laboratory where innovative energy solutions for the building industry can be developed, tested and demonstrated. It focuses on the interaction between consumption and the energy system, as well as an optimized use of renewable energy by having a test-family living in the house.

EnergyFlexHouse is equipped with extensive measuring equipment for the documentation of indoor climate and energy.

Follow the energy consumption of the test-family living in EnergyFlexHouse by clicking on the link below. The dashboard shows live data from the building's energy consumption. It will be updated every 12 minutes.
http://datalog.energyflexhouse.dk/pview/index_en.html

For more information visit http://www.dti.dk/inspiration/25348 or download the EnergyFlexHouse brochure: http://www.dti.dk/_root/media/36141_EFH%20publikation%20final%20low.pdf

SUPER SUSTAINABLE EXHIBITION GRAND OPENING

2010-05-25T20:29:00.006+02:00

Watch our new Super Sustainable City movie!

2010-04-20T23:05:00.002+02:00

SSC ON SWEDISH RADIO

2010-04-17T16:57:00.000+02:00

In connection with the inauguration of the Super Sustainable City exhibition at the Gothenburg city museum, Swedish radio made a reportage.

LISTEN

Super Sustainable at facebook

2010-04-12T16:30:00.005+02:00

Super Sustainable Exhibition

2010-04-12T16:10:00.006+02:00

The Super Sustainable city project will be exhibited at the Göteborg City Museum.

Open: Saturday the 17th of April
Close: 15th of August

We welcome everyone to visit us there, We will have new physical models, a new movie and much more!

ZEPPELINS IN THE FUTURE SUPERSUSTAINABLE CITY

2010-03-17T09:55:00.031+01:00

Boeing JHL 40

Could zeppelins be the sustainable answer for future transportation? If implemented in large scale, how would they change the way our cities work? To find out we interviewed Matts Lundin and Ulf Svensson, two swedish researchers that have recently developed a study called ”Airships return” financed by SBUF, the Development Fund of the Swedish Construction Industry. This is what they said:

- What roles do you think zeppelins can play in a sustainable city in the future?

Answer: Zeppelins or airships and soon air balloon cranes are engaged today in different countries for diverse missions: police uses airships for monitoring traffic flows, cities working with energy planning use equipment for observing energy leaks which is carried by airships, and mobile advertising is another example. A next step can be using air balloon cranes in city renewals. It is complicated to use conventional cranes in narrow streets and get access to buildings in the middle of huge building complexes. Air balloon cranes can also be used for short distance transportation assignments. We can also think about what will happen when further cargo volumes shall be transported through more and more overloaded infrastructure systems. There is already a volume delay problem because of capacity limitations in the network which is very costly to handle within our existing systems.

– What are the new circumstances that have led to the present Zeppelin revival?

Answer: Four short answers are:
1) Demand of transportation in the north parts of the world in remote areas like Canada and Russia and on the African continent. Oil, gas and mining business are driving forces.
2) Military needs for different purposes where transportation is an important issue.
3) Climate change, related risks: Cities are often located near the sea and therefore we can imagine that if the sea level arises there will be two types of challenges: we will need new buildings for different kinds of needs in the short run which will need to be easy to move, and we will also have to move some types of existing buildings, in sections.
4) It is expensive to build and maintain infrastructure.

– What are the future challenges for zeppelins, in order to achieve the goal of having a place as a sustainable mass transportation system of the citizens of the future?

Answer: One challenge will be the development of new types and models of airships that are more competitive. We put very little attention into this craft machines and huge amounts of money into other types of vehicles like trucks, planes, ships and trains. All transport means have their advantages and disadvantages and we should try to use the comparative advantages of every transport system. Often we have intermodal transport chains, which can start with sea freight and end up with trucks, for transporting cargo from one point to another. Zeppelins could be a part of this chain in certain cases. To change prejudiced opinions among decision makers is one big challenge. We see possibilities in anticipating and steering traffic flows. We have invested in a large scale infrastructure transport system and we have to use it effectively. Every disturbance is very costly and non-efficient cities will in the long run lose economic power. Airships can be a part of the process of making cities more effective, partly as a component in a traffic control system partly as a transport mean for overcome traffic breakdowns. Because of problems within this crucial sector we think that planners, politicians, investors and so on will eventually see this as a potential tool, but we have to start with the easiest solutions to gain confidence towards this technology.

Instant City, by Archigram

– Until now, the most wellknown urban project in architecture history involving zeppelins was the visionary project Instant City, by Archigram, in UK. In wikipedia we can read: ”Instant City is a mobile technological event that drifts into underdeveloped, drab towns via air (balloons) with provisional structures (performance spaces) in tow. The effect is a deliberate overstimulation to produce mass culture, with an embrace of advertising aesthetics. The whole endeavor is intended to eventually move on leaving behind advanced technology hook-ups”. This project is from the 60´s, and some projects highly influenced by Archigram have seen light in recent times, like the Kunsthaus Graz in Austria. When do you think we will see zeppelins flying over the cities as a common thing? What aspects of the visionary projects involving zeppelings will we have to assume unrealistic?

Answer: First we have to take into consideration the situation of all transport systems in big cities, where lack of capacity will become even worse in the future and disturbance will become a permanent element. This is one important aspect and a very realistic one. Police monitoring activities from the air, that we have already mentioned before, is already the case in Trinidad Tobago, Russia and USA in a small scale. Big screens above cities are nowadays working in China and Japan and if things go well maybe we will see a project in Sweden in this business. Unrealistic views... As I said, big screens are already floating over certain cities. But if we want to analyse the future realistic picture of Zeppelins in the city, we could see the case of megacities like Mexico City, Sao Paulo and similar ones, where more and more time has to be used for transportation. Watching zeppelings “floating over” these cities is not possible today and, if we wanted to get a realistic approach on this, we must say that to bring zeppelins into our daily city landscape we should make a more serious commitment on a global scale. This would allow to use them for public transportation in certain cases. We must remember that the Zeppelin Company built two types of giants – Hindenburg and Graf Zeppelin in 1930s. They could handle around 80 people with crew and passengers for long-haul journeys and if they continued to develop this kind of airships we are sure they could handle 200 passengers for commuter traffic. But, to restart this kind of business today is another question. Nowadays, this airship industry is only encompassing a couple of hundreds of people compared to earlier times when around 30.000 people were working in this industry.

- Could you give us a general overview of the prerequisites that a city that aspires to have a transport system based on zeppelins need?

Answer: From a technical point of view, we mainly have to take into consideration that we use an airship that can move in the three dimensions of space and that has a considerable volume. By using zeppelins, we could use roofs and water areas as new parking facilities in our cities, for instance. But first of all, to implement a transport system which includes zeppelins we need an overall strategy, specific for every situation, which considers that all transport means have their comparative advantages. Our present transport systems have problems with capacity and are sensitive for disturbances. To come around this we maybe should look the way around when we construct, and bring and coordinate improvements within other areas of design. For example we may investigate how we design and build new houses and buildings and explore new ways to follow the statement “more must be done with less material” proposed by Buckminster Fuller. We can imagine a building system where frames come from long distances and bulk material comes from the building area. In the future it will maybe not be possible to act like we have been doing in the last century, and this is not an easy question. Another overall strategy that we have to consider is that we must minimize the need for different types of transportation. Transport demand and transport supply are a complex topic that we are developing with our work. One of our scoops in our new research study is the transport demand and supply for building wind power in Sweden. New constructions and designs open up for other possibilities to transportation with airships, and new airship designs give and will give new possibilities for the wind power industry.

– What countries / territories will lead the implementation of zeppelins into their systems of transportation in the near future in your opinion?

Answer: Remote areas with natural resources, mega cities and areas affected by climate change. Maybe UN and there aid operations can be a turnaround force. We noticed what happened in Haiti, and now in Chile, and we can say that airships would be one solution among others in situations like this.

– Is there any other thing that you would like to say to our audience, regarding zeppelins linked to city planning?

Answer: The extent of prefabrication can increase if we can convince the power in the world to put extra resources into lighter-than-air solutions. Combinations of building elements/constructions coming from long distance with airships with methods/materials which only need short transportation can be an alternative. This could be a prerequisite for education of architects in the future when climate change and energy shortage could be our new reality.

Thank you very much, Matts Lundin and Ulf Svensson, for this interesting interview!

SSC GETS 1ST PRIZE

2010-02-04T14:33:00.003+01:00

With over 500 entries from 25 countries the second annual Green Dot Award has declared the Super Sustainable City project as winner in the concept category.

The Green Dot Awards is an annual, international award competition that recognizes businesses, entrepreneurs, designers and innovators that are focused on creating projects, products and services that honor the environment. Our jury of esteemed environmental entrepreneurs, business owners, educators, design, media and entertainment professionals voted on entries in categories such as Transportation, Design, Build, Products, Services, Entertainment + Culture and Concept.

For more information please visit:
www.greendotawards.com

SAMSÖ A SUSTAINABLE ISLAND

2009-12-18T10:44:00.008+01:00

In 1997 the people of the Samsö island, Denmark, decided to stop using energy from oil and coal-powered electricity. After twelve years they have reached their goals; to cut the CO2 footprint by 140% and to be entirely energy self-sufficient, becoming the first sustainable energy community in the world.

One of 11 onshore wind turbines on the Samsö island

The 4200 inhabitants on the island have used to produce 45,000 tonnes of CO2 every year, but taking advantage of the wind that blows almost permanently in their island no more CO2is emitted. Investors, companies and citizens bought 21 wind turbines that could not only generate the energy for residents but also create more energy than needed so the citizens now earns a profit selling the left over energy to the main land and are thus creating a negative CO2 footprint. The wind turbines are not the only renewable energy system on the island. When the wind doesn´t blow woodchip and straw-fired heating plants and a solar panel plant provides sufficient power supply.

The locations of the different enviromental friendly plants

of Samsö (Der spiegel)

The houses are well insulated and usually have solar panels on the roofs to get hot water for the heating system and domestic needs.Farm tractors work with canola oil, while traditional fossil-fuel plants have been closed and dismantled, the next step is to replace cars with elettric ones.

Samsö people demonstrate that is possible to live in enviromental friendly way without compromising the quality of life.Denmark produces 21% of all electrical power by wind at the moment and wants to follow the leading example of Samsö island.

LINKS:

Municipality of Samsö web site

Samsö Energy Akademy

MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE WATER

2009-12-08T17:08:00.007+01:00

As climate changes are raising the sealevels architects have to look at all possible solutions. One might be making friends with the water and live on it. All over the world there are many communities live on the water. Pile-dwelling and floating houses exist on every continent, for instance in Vietnam the Mekong´s delta is full of houseboats and pile-dwellings and parts of the social life like markets occur on the river.

We wanted to take a closer look at Amsterdam, a city that has a special relation with water. For many years it was one of the worlds leading trade cities and most of the goods where transported on water. An intricate canal system brought the goods right to your front door. Later houses where also built on the canals. The idea of living on the water started during the sixties. Some hippies decided to build their houses on boats, woonbooten (residential boats), this way they could move their house whenever they wanted. The phenomenon became widespread and nowadays there are more than 3000 floating houses only in the Amsterdam area. However the residents are no longer only hippies, today a Woonboten is an alternative for the average middle class dutch family.

Images of Dutch "Woonboten"

During the last 50 years the woonbooten has developed in different ways, some of them are used as hotels and offices. The houseboats are comfortable and has electricity, running water, telephone, etc. There are three different kinds of woonbooten:

-The Ship House is built using an old cargo boat. This is the typical houseboat, it is made of steel and is the largest one because its inhabitants can use the space once used for the load of the ship.

-The Vessel House keeps only the hull, the cockpit and the boat deck are taken away from the boat, these house boats can only be moved occasionally.

-The Ark House is fabricated to be a residential unit. It is made of wood or bricks and built on a square hull made of steel or concrete.

LINKS
Want to buy your own Woonboot? Follow this link!

SSC TO PARTICIPATE IN CLIMATE DAY

2009-12-07T18:01:00.002+01:00

SSC has been invited to participate in the climate day in Malmö. We will be part of an expert panel on sustainability debating climate issues with auditorium of 100 high school students.

With the international climate summit starting up in neighboring Copenhagen we will do our best to influence both politicians and public to take the necessary decisions! We will explain how the energy usage for heating can be dramatically lowered with the help of passive house technique.

The conference will take place at Dialogtorget, Lönngatan 30, Facklan, Malmö. See you there!

More info on "Klimatdagen"

SSC SUPPORTS 2 DEGREES!

2009-10-30T09:43:00.002+01:00

Super Sustainable City has signed up for a petition to ensure that:

• a global climate agreement is drawn up
• all the countries in the world sign up to this agreement
• developing countries are guaranteed the opportunity to continue to develop
• the temperature will only increase by a maximum of two degrees.

SSC ON ITALIAN RADIO

2009-10-22T09:03:00.007+02:00

We are happy to announce that Joakim Kaminsky and Alessandro Micelli have been interviewed by an italian radio station about the Super Sustainable City and its possibilities. Here´s the link to the radio:

RadioCitta´Fujiko

STUDENTS EXPLORE RIVERS

2009-10-08T21:51:00.011+02:00

Architecture students from Chalmers where sent out with video cameras to envision the future of the water areas in central Gothenburg. The results really triggers your fantasy! To see all the movies, just go to youtube and use the searchwords "mater, space, chalmers". Here's our favoritues:

"Conquest of river"
"Subterranean seasick blues"
"Flamingo"

Indeed making the most of the central water areas in Gothenburg is a key to achieving a sustainable city. The films where made by master students in a course led by professor Morten Lund.

WHEN FACTORIES SHUT DOWN

2009-09-29T09:20:00.006+02:00

In Germany redeveloping abandoned industrial areas, so-called brownfields, has become an art form. Not only because these lots can be found in mass, but since municipalities, architects and organizations has taken on this challenge.

Duisburg-Nord Landscape Park, part of Emscher Park

Having gone through one big economical transition when the shipbuilding industry closed down Gothenburg might face even bigger challenges in the near future, being the automobile capital of Sweden. Therefore we think that a cyber-study-tour to Germany is in place.

There are a lot of these empty plots which can be found inside city structures untouched for decades as remediation is often connected to high costs and economical risks. Polluted soil has to be cleaned or exchanged, old factories and industrial structures need to be pulled down to prepare the land for new usages. But these areas are not just polluted waste land. Because of their importance in history they are mostly located to major traffic routes like motorways or bigger rivers and in proximity to urban areas. This means that redevelopment of brownfields is not only a challenging task but bears a lot of potential to rise the city's quality.

The question is how to accomplish the remediation in the best manner? Many strategies are possible while new technologies like bioremediation allow more sustainable tactics. Instead of exchanging whole layers of polluted soil the application of natural occurring microbes might be a resource friendly alternative. But even growing crops might be considered. Plants like soybean, corn, canola or switchgras are able to clean up the soil. Besides they could be used for the production of biodiesel or ethanol fuel giving investors a economical refund possibly increasing the attraction to redevelop brownfields.

Another question is whether the traces of history should be totally removed. It might be reasonable to leave some landmarks referring to the region's history. This has been done in Emscher Park situated in industrial stamped Ruhrvalley in Germany. Old buildings with a heritage value were reconstructed to serve functions like business, housing or culture. But even just parts of old structures were used in a creative manner for recreation and sport to strengthen the identification of the region's population with the newly designed places.

remaining walls of an former ore bunker adapted for rock climbing, Duisburg-Nord Landscape Park, part of Emscher Park

So the clean up of brownfields doesn't necessarily mean the elimination of everything found on the plots. There are good examples in Gothenburg too, like the old shipyard buildings along the riverside, now used for conferences, hotels and offices, or the old mill “Röda Sten” used as an exhibition place and cultural meeting point.

LINKS:
Duisburg-Nord Landscape Park
Brownfields and Land Revitalization

[image 1: http://www.latzundpartner.de/projects/detail/17]
[image 2: http://www.landliving.com/articles/0000000618.aspx]

SSC ON ABC NEWS!

2009-09-08T15:14:00.008+02:00

We are proud to announce that Super Sustainable City is represented in the ABC News film Earth 2100!

Alexandra Danner on ABC News declares:
"In order to plan for the worst, we must anticipate it. In that spirit, guided by some of the world's experts, ABC News' "Earth 2100," hosted by Bob Woodruff, will journey through the next century and explore what might be our worst-case scenario."

LINKS
ABC News, Earth 2100

KKA FEATURED IN ECO BOOK

2009-09-04T14:32:00.010+02:00

Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture and Emrahus have developed Sweden's first series of prefabricated houses with passive house technique. The goal is to make this technique available for everyone. We also want to show that low energy houses and good architecture can be joined. In Villa Värde (translates to Villa Value in English) the goal was to give the customers as much villa as possible for their money. Therefore the plan is compact and functional trying to make the most of its 120m². Still the living room is spacious with its double roof height. For even more value the double roof height can be transformed into two extra bedrooms.

DEBATE AT LEVE KLOTET

2009-08-15T10:58:00.005+02:00

Joakim Kaminsky and Ylva Frid will take part in a debate at Leve klotet on Kulturfestivalen in Gothenburg. The debate will take place today 15/8 at Kanal torget, 17:00-17:30.

We will discuss sustainable city planing in Gothenburg with leading politicians and decision makers.

See you there!

LINK
leve klotet

OLSSON LYCKEFORS AT SCIENCE CAFÉ

2009-08-14T17:28:00.019+02:00

Our friends Johan Olsson and Andreas Lyckefors discussed the future development of Älvstranden (the riversides of Gothenburg) at the science café at Älvrummet. We think they had some really good ideas, and the diagram below, well we couldn't have said it better ourselves:

It gives you a very clear picture of how the water connects the inner city of Stockholm while it divides central Gothenburg, just what we had in mind when making the SSC vision for a new city district in Göta Älv:

LINK
See the whole lecture here
The SSC vision of renewing the riverside in Gothenburg

SUSTAINABLE IMPROVEMENTS

2009-08-13T11:49:00.007+02:00

How can an old building be made more sustainable? Ylva Frid and KKA made some proposals for the city museum in Gothenburg.

The building is located in the oldest part of Gothenburg. It was there before oil became the base of production and transportation and will be there long after. Its installations and technical systems has been replaced many times while its architectural pomp has been left intact. We vision a similar future.

Outside fishermen and farmers used to come by boat in the canals to sell their products on market places or directly from the boat.

Today, the area is dependent on fossil fuel in all it´s functions. Transportation, heating, the food consumed and activities taking place are all linked to high consumption of fossil fuels. There´s very few trees in the area, and the water is empty and silent with exception for tourist boats, but the high building density and the waterways gives opportunities for making the area more sustainable.

High-efficient solar-cells on the roof of the buildings (1) could cover the buildings own energy consumption.* Together with small quiet windmills (2)the building could produce an energy surplus without disturbing the historical environment. By using extremely thin vacuum insulation the walls and ceilings of the old buildings could be insulated cutting the energy used for heating while keeping the architectonic expression of the old facades (3).
Fruit trees (4) along the street makes the city greener, gives shadow in hot summer days and make a living spot for bees and birds. They could also produce enough fruit to cover the consumption in the nearest blocks.
A floating square with a mix of markets, house boats and floating gardens (5) could make use of the water and make this a much more vivid place than today. Transports on water have always played a key role in Gothenburg. If the future contains more of small-scale, locally produced food, the channels in central Gothenburg could once again play an important role for transporting (6) and selling (7) fish and vegetables.
Supersustainable highways (8) with a personal rapid transport system combined with cycle paths, solar cells and rainwater collectors could minimize the need for car transportations.

LINKS
SSC proposals for sustainable improvements
SSC post on PRT-systems

DYING MALLS

2009-06-25T16:35:00.008+02:00

In the last decades big malls have often been considered as the panacea to revitalize whole parts of a city through attracting customers and even more tradesmen in the surrounding areas. But facing reality many big shopping malls have shown that in the long run lack of diversity in program can't be compensated just by a mix of different retail.

In the USA the problem of dying malls has got a wide spread phenomenon both in suburban and urban areas. Especially introverted complexes spreading over several blocks are predestined tasks for redevelopment.

What possibilities are there to stop these places from ending up as dead empty volumes? In Pasadena (California, USA) a declining mall was partly demolished to reestablish the old structure to the historic street grid and restating former sight lines while taking advantage of the existing subterranean parking. Connected with the integration of restaurants, entertainment, office and residential next to commercial usage as well as facing the storefronts to the streets and creating new public outdoor spaces this dying spot in the city could be revitalized in an attractive manner. The mixture of functions guarantees a vivid urban space even at night.

public outdoor space of a reestablished mall in Pasenda

Nevertheless retrofitting of megastructures are expensive and complicated. That's why we must learn from previous problems with mono-usage shopping centers to support a sustainable urban development. In Gothenburg today many new supermalls are being planned, eventhough the market is already saturated. Second thoughts anyone?

[image: http://www.cnu.org/sites/files/mallsintomainstreets.pdf]

PUBLISHED VISIONS

2009-06-11T09:37:00.006+02:00

We are happy to announce that our ideas for a sustainable Gothenburg are arousing world wide interest. An article about the SSC visions has been published with the lastest issue of the Korean architecture magazine "CONCEPT".

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES

2009-06-10T11:29:00.004+02:00

KKA's blogg Super Sustainable Cities is now a member of the following communities: Ecoprofile and Sustainable Cities Collective.

URBAN FARMING AT STADSMUSÉET

2009-05-27T09:16:00.006+02:00

Joakim Kaminsky and Ylva Frid will participate in the inauguration of a new exhibition on urban farming at the Gothenburg city museum. We will hold a short presentation where we talk about urban farming in the SSC vision and in real life around the world. The event will take place Wednesday 3/6 from 17:00-19:00, see you there!

LINKS
The exhibition will take place at the Gothenburg city museum

Personal Rapid Transit

2009-05-21T17:06:00.004+02:00

Personal rapid transit systems (=PRT) could be the future for ecological cities reducing pollution while displacing all presently used transportation.

test track of ULTra in Cardiff

Operating on a widespread network of guideways and working on demand it combines the sustainability of public transportation with the comfort of individual available vehicles. PRT systems need up to four times less energy than automobiles and are less noisy than any other vehicles. Waiting times of a few seconds and non-stop travel to a chosen destination guarantees a movement through the city that is at least two times faster than todays forms of scheduled route services.

In Uppsala, Sweden a test track is proving that PRT systems are more than just a vision. This year a pilot project manufactured by ULTra will be opened at the Heathrow Airport in London for daily transportation of visitors across the airport's territory. Most convincing though is perhaps that a PRT system has been operating successfully on the Campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown, USA already since 1975!

Morgantown PRT, Beechurst Station

LINKS
Test track in Uppsala by Vectus
ULTra's pilot project Heathrow Airport
Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit

[bild 1: http://www.atsltd.co.uk/media/pictures/cardiff-test-facility]
[bild 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Morgantown_PRT_-_Beechurst_Station.jpg]

Lecture at Kinnarps

2009-05-18T10:59:00.004+02:00

Fredrik and Joakim held a lecture on SSC at Kinnarps. Having a strong focus on sustainability questions Kinnarps invited us to talk at their yearly marketing event. The audience consisted of 150 clients to Kinnarps, mostly architects.

GOOD NEWS FOR GOTHENBURG'S ROOF LANDSCAPE

2009-04-24T13:30:00.010+02:00

Political parties of Gothenburg are currently discussing the proposal to restate the actual roof ordinance. Both the opposition and majority parties could imagine to allow green roofs like in Germany covered with grass, sedum and other plants. Even cultivation could be possible.

top view of Linnéastan, Gothenburg

At the moment the situation in Gothenburg doesn't allow bigger roof terraces that are visible from streets and surrounding buildings. All in all the view of the city with its present tiled or copper roofs should be preserved so that lots of requests for creating a vivid space on top of many building need to be rejected by the municipality.

But if the thoughts for extended roof usage will turn into reality, Gotheburg takes a step closer to becoming a sustainable city not only vitalizing the roofs of the city but also providing space for urban farming and additional greenery for a better city climate.

To read more about possible improvements of rooftops proposed by KKA follow the link.

LINK
Improve

WINDMILLS IN THE CITY

2009-04-23T16:36:00.006+02:00

Small wind turbines mounted on roofs or bridges enlarges the possibilities to use renewable energy sources directly in city centers. In addition to solar panels the installation of small wind turbines makes especially sense in cities like Gothenburg - with a lot of wind hours. Besides the maximum wind speed is found in winter, the time of the year when the solar energy output is lower due to cloudy weather and longer nights. So wind energy could be an effective complement to solar power.

But what's about the drawbacks of this technology? Does these small wind farms in the city have a negative effect on our well-being? Besides the obvious risk of disturbance through noise critics often mention vibrations caused by the turbines and their extra weight as the big disadvantage.

Referring to the technical progress that has been achieved in the last years and already realized projects the benefits of city wind turbines can be proved anyhow. With the right solutions and expertise the efficiency of small wind mills has been raised in a great manner.

First of all the right placing of the turbines in relation to the building has a big effect on the amount of generated energy. Either rose above the middle of the roof or attached to the edges of a building the turbines are using regions of accelerated airflow. Just the double wind speed would result in eight times more energy.

Furthermore smaller dimensions, spherical forms and especially the introduction vertical axis wind turbines highly reduces the impact of noise and vibration. Because the background noise level in a city is omnipresent and increases with stronger winds, the sounds of the turbines in use is seldom audible.
In a near future all these technical improvements will hopefully have a positive impact on the reputation of small wind turbines so that more and more people reconsider it as a sustainable energy source reducing our CO2 emission.

[bild 1: http://www.86wind.com]
[bild 2: http://www.quietrevolution.co.uk]

URBAN FARMING IN GOTHENBURG

2009-04-13T16:08:00.006+02:00

The ground around the church in Högsbo is no longer a usual lawn. From far you see exposed black soil and the former grass turned into a muddy mess.
Responsible for that is Högsbos three new habitants. Under a big ashtree they´re having their lunch of apple and potatoes under loud amused noice.Måla, Sötnos and Vovven are the first agriculture pigs in Gothenburg since second world war, and their presence is now transforming the church´s land into twenty urban farming lots.
-They are the most rational way of getting this done, explains NiklasWennberg, project leader at Stadsjord, the organisation that initialized the project. The pigs works up the soil, defeats weed and gives a superiorground nutrition. In May we will move them and let people start cultivate the land.

Niklas Wennberg with one of the pigs.

More than 350 people had come to give the pigs a warm welcome when theyarrived in the beginning of March.-

People just love them! ”Pig” is now the most frequent search phrase on themunicipals webpage, and this has really changed the centre of gravity inthe city core. People walk by, stops, chats and watch the pigs, says Niklas.

The arrival of the pigs is the result of an interreligious collaboration in Gothenburg where leaders of all different world religions together isworking for integration and a sustainable future. To grow in the city was concidered the most important measure to handle integration as well as humans awareness in global warming. They asked Niklas Wennberg, with abackground in environmental science, to be come a project leader andtogether they formed Stadsjord.
This autumn the produce of growers work will be sold at Axel Dahlströms square.

-This is the only growers association in Gothenburg that clearly says that you are aloud to sell your surplus, explains Niklas. Normally it´s forbidden.This is really very important. If we want urban farming to become anactual part of the future, we can not follow old rules that aims to keepthe big food store free from local competition. Such a rule is only aresult of a human decision. That shows the opportunity to make other decisions!

Gothenburg- A Super Sustainable City

2009-03-23T15:15:00.003+01:00

SSC AT

2009-03-18T16:45:00.004+01:00

Joakim and Fredrik will present the project at the Pecha Kucha in Gothenburg the 25 of March. You are welcome!

SSC AT INHABITAT

2009-03-17T11:48:00.004+01:00

The influential green blog Inhabitat has written a report about Super Sustainable city, check it out and make your vioce heard.

URBAN FARMING IN DETROIT

2009-03-15T09:30:00.007+01:00

Detroit is one example of how a city can provide its inhabitants with locally produced food. Every year, more than six tons of produce are harvested and sold on local markets. Rooftops, walls, unused landareas, planters in malls and on sidewalks are all subject for agriculture when Detroit is being transformed into a sustainable city. Together with backyard gardens and larger scale farms they provide thousands of pounds of fresh, nutritious produce for Detroit families. Simultaneously they improve communities by connecting neighbors, providing an alternative to trash strewn vacant lots, improving property values and reducing crime.

Detroit used to be the center of car production in the US. Since much of the production moved to Asia in the 1970´s, the city has been struggling with a decreasing population, high level of unemployment and abandoned buildings. Satellite images show an urban core giving way to an urban prairie. This led way for a new of using the city. Urban farmers have embraced the abandoned lots, gradually converting 15 acres of idle land into more than 40 community gardens and microfarms, some covering entire blocks.

A number of authorities, non-profit organizations, individuals and volunteers are collaborating to promote and encourage urban agriculture. In a resource program for gardening hundreds of home, school and community gardens get access to resources and information in order to empower Detroit residents to grow, harvest, prepare, and preserve food for their families in their backyards and neighborhoods. Together they create a more sustainable Detroit where locally grown vegetables and produces can be bought at your local market.

[bild: http://anthropik.com/]

LINKS
Detroit agriculture network
Earthworks urban farm
Urban farming

SSC IMAGES

2009-03-11T10:45:00.025+01:00

Now hires-images of Super Sustainable City are available for downloading at Flikr

Canals and street proportions relate to present Gothenburg

Roof terraces can be used for leisure and agriculture

Renewable energy sources are harvested within the city and markets are omnipresent

The clean water is shared by people, birds and fishes

Panorama of the old and new Gothenburg

View of Esperanto platsen

Gothenburg faces a challenge comparable in size with the industrial revolution; to become a sustainable city.

SSC is a vision of a sustainable Gothenburg. It was initiated by Kjellgren Kaminsky Architecture who started this blog as a forum for visions of a sustainable Gothenburg. For more information check out the SSC headlines (upper right corner).

SSC at Yimby GBG

2009-03-11T10:25:00.001+01:00

Our friends at Yimby GBG have made a report from the Chalmers Super sustainable city lecture. Follow and participate in the ongoing discussion at Yimby GBG.

And don't forget to join Yimby GBG. Its a great organization where the public can make their voice heard in city planning questions!

DO YOU WANT TO IMPROVE?

2009-02-18T14:31:00.019+01:00

HOW WOULD YOU IMPROVE SUPER SUSTAINABLE CITY?
A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE SHARED THEIR IDEAS.

HERE ARE SOME OF THEM:

- Solar panels as art
- Optimized system for home grown products
- Playgrounds for elderly people
- Clever home waste system
- Micro rain collectors
- Mushroom vertical farm
- Balcony greenhouse
- Wind power on existing bridges (two in one)
- Your idea?....

VISION

2009-02-02T18:23:00.006+01:00

The current ecological footprint of Gothenburg is 2.5 Million globalhectare or the size of Västra Götaland. If all citizens in the world used as much resources we would need 3 globes to survive.

Now, imagine Gothenburg had an ecological footprint of its own size.

We would have to make drastic changes in many fields, such as transportation, energy, food and waste.

But did you know that as late as one century ago the city of Paris produced more food than it needed, the surplus was exported to London.

FACTS

2009-02-02T18:10:00.010+01:00

In the vision Göteborg 2050 the Gothenburg environment administration sets out the goals the city must reach till 2050 for a sustainable development.

To reduce our ecological footprint we need to shorten distances and make transports more efficient. We need to travel less by car and more by foot, bike, bus and tram.

We need to lower our energy consumption and change its sources.

We need to eat less meat and more vegetables. We need to eat more localy produced food to reduce transports.

We need to cut our waste production in half. The waste we still produce needs to be sorted for recycling.

IMPROVE

2009-02-02T17:50:00.018+01:00

Take a look at Gothenburg from above. Like most western cities it is pretty grey. Roofs, streets and squares are all covered with inorganic materials.

Just the rooftops constitutes one third of the city.

What if this area could be used better?

On the flat roofs and in parks crops could be grown. On southfacing roofs solar panels could be mounted. Small windmills could produce electricity. More apartments could be built on some roofs.

A network of sustainable highways could connect the city. They would work as personal rapid transit systems and shelter cycling highways. The sustainable highways could even collect energy and water.

RENEW

2009-02-02T13:31:00.055+01:00

Til 2020 Gothenburg will grow with 8000 new inhabitants/year. This means we will have to build alot of new houses. How we handle this growth is decisive for the future of our city.

During the last century Gothenburg has grown sprawly.

If the city grew denser distances and transports would decrease.

Today the river Göta älv constitutes a border straight through Gothenburg.

Here the city could be densified and connected.

Cities has been planned with similar principles throughout history



Heavy shipping traffic, now passing through the city centre,

could be redirected to Nodre Älv north of Gothenburg.

The development we propose would house one thrird of the estimated city growth til 2020 and form a strong connection between the riversides.

Here roofs can be used for leasure, agriculture and solar power. The roofs are terraced to the south so that people, plants and solar panels will have more sun and the apartments will need less heating and lightning.

The structures takes inspiration from the traditional Gothenburg social and architectural heritage such as yellow bricks, streets paved with granite, markets and canals.