From 1970s property to modern low-energy building
The Backa Röd area was part of Sweden’s million homes program and is situated on Hisingen in Gothenburg. There we have renovated a four-story building with 16 apartments into a low-energy building.
The primary goal with the renovation was to lower energy consumption by two-thirds. However, we also installed new bathrooms, kitchens and renovated surface finishes. All electrical, water and sewer systems were also replaced.
The building at Backa Röd is a pilot project for Bostads AB Poseidon. Together, we developed theories regarding energy efficiency that we then tested on the four-story building. We wanted to achieve a significant reduction in energy consumption through additional insulation and by tightening the entire building envelope, as well as recycling heat from the exhaust air. Consequently, we installed an FTX system (exhaust and supply air ventilation with heat recovery), which also resulted in a good indoor climate.
Evaluation of the project is being done using an identical building in the area as a reference to make ongoing energy utilization comparisons.
The end result appears to be significantly better than expected! Energy use has dropped dramatically and we have created a very tight building.
Skanska has generated an enormous knowledge bank that we refer to as Miljonhemmet. In it, we have collected our experiences from the million homes program. For Backa Röd, we used tools from Miljonhemmet to inventory concrete damages, add supplemental insulation to the building facade and install a FTX system. At the same time, the Backa Röd project has resulted in additional knowledge being added to Miljonhemmet.
Residents were involved at an early stage of the project through a resident’s group, which helped to determine which measures needed to be implemented. Renovation began in April 2009, and tenants were able to move back in again by November 2009.
