CIRCULAR SUSTAINABILITY
LIFE CYCLE DESIGN
MICRO DESIGN
EXPLORING
CIRCULAR SUSTAINABILITY
NATURE
WATER
LIGHT
AIR
ENERGY MATERIALS
TRIPLE STRATEGY
Holistic Sustainability
The design of Green Solution House is based on several
parameters to show a holistic approach to sustainability.
The building is certified to the standards of the recognised
German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), based on the
criteria of the Active House vision and inspired by the Cradle
to Cradle life cycle concept. The building and landscape
present the latest developments in the field of sustainable
architecture; we show that sustainability involves more than
aspiring to green certification, and that it is possible to
quantify our project’s high quality on the basis of several
parameters.
MORE THAN
A BUILDING
Co-Creation
Focus On People
Strategic Partnerships
COLLABORATION
AND INNOVATION
NATURE
WATER
WATER AND SOIL BALANCE
Rainwater Landscaping
The high water table on the site poses a
challenge, but instead of fighting nature and
treating this as a problem, the landscape was
designed around the element of water. The soil
excavated for the foundation of the new
building was retained on site and used to sculpt
the land. Various watershed designs guide
rainwater to seasonal ponds, creating an easy
to maintain landscape, which increases
biodiversity, provides natural irrigation, has a
cooling effect in the summer months.
Who’s behind it: SLA
BITUMEN FREE
LANDSCAPE
NATURE
MATERIALS
BITUMEN FREE LANDSCAPE
Natural Hardscape Design
Bitumen is a waste product from crude oil
processing, and the binder of asphalt. Green
Footprints Park is a bitumen free landscape,
and the parking lot at Green Solution House
demonstrates that it is possible to make a
robust paving surface for driving, without
asphalt. Where needed a plant-based binder,
called Vegecol, is used as an environmentally
friendly alternative to bitumen – elsewhere
aggregate surfaces are simply compacted fill.
Who’s behind it: SLA and GXN
INTELLIENT
INDOOR CLIMATE
WATER
LIGHT
AIR
ENERGY MATERIALS
SMART ROOM
The Hotel Room of Tomorrow
Two guest rooms were retrofitted with intelligent
climate systems and a focus on quality interiors.
The rooms are controlled by our custom mobile
app, which tracks the impact of your stay,
monitoring consumption and indoor environment.
Air cleaning carpets, recyclable tiles, recycled
plastic fixtures and low energy lighting
demonstrate our focus on recyclability and
sustainability certifications. Plus the rooms are
delightfully daylit with skylights and Sun Tunnels.
Who’s behind it: GXN Innovation, Autodesk
Research, Strategic Innovation, Rambøll, Kuubo
WATER
LIGHT
AIR
ENERGY
INTELLIGENT INDOOR CLIMATE
Smart Room App
Interact with your room! At Green Solution
House we custom-built a mobile app to track
resource consumption and easily control the
indoor environment in our Smart Rooms.
Energy, light, air and water are the four
themes on which live feedback is provided to
our guests, helping to inform behaviour by
increasing awareness at a personal level.
Who’s behind it: GXN Innovation, Autodesk Research,
Strategic Innovation, Rambøll
Green Solution House first goal is
‘To enable knowledge sharing’
LIVING
DEMONSTATORIUM
Focus On Regenerative Solutions
MATERIAL
UPCYCLING
MATERIAL
UPCYCLING
MATERIAL
UPCYCLING
DESIGN FOR
DISASSEMBLY
LIVING
MASCHINE
WATER
WATER CYCLE
Biological Water Purification
Water from the sinks and toilets in the main
building is collected and flows through
anaerobic, clarifying, and biological filtering
stages to enable on-site reuse. The first stages
of purification are hidden below ground, after
which the system emerges into view and is
assisted by sunlight and LED lighting. Here, the
water flows through algae tubes that absorb
CO2 and continue the water cleansing process.
The ambition for the system is to obtain
drinking water quality through the biological
purification process.
Who’s behind it: Rambøll, The Last Straw, SLA,
GXN Innovation
RENEWABLE
ENERGY DESIGN
ENERGY
RENEWABLE ENERGY
On-Site Energy Production
At Green Solution House we produce energy.
Solar cells generate electricity and our on-site
pyrolysis plant converts organic waste to
electricity and heat. Hot water comes from a
solar thermal plant integrated into the
landscape. We converted our 30 year old
swimming pool into a thermal energy storage
system. To keep an eye on operations, we
display our energy consumption and on-site
production with a custom visualisation and any
excess energy is sold back to the Bornholm
grid.
LIGHT
ENERGY
SOLAR BALCONIES
Gaia Solar Cells
During the retrofit of the main building, all
balconies were changed from concrete to
glass and those on the south façade were
equipped with photovoltaic cells. Now the
solar balconies produce an extra 5000 kWh
of energy per year for the building. In
addition, the glass balcony railings let
significantly more daylight into the hotel
rooms than before.
Who’s behind it: Gaia Solar
WATER
ENERGY
ON-SITE HOT WATER
Solar Thermal Plant
Solar thermal collectors generate hot water
from the sun to offset the operational
requirements from the local heat plant. The
energy generated can be used for heating
potable water - what goes to the sinks and
showers - or for general heating needs such as
radiators, in floor heating, or ventilation
heating. We have 150 m2 of high efficiency solar
collectors. In the case that excess heat is
produced by our solar thermal plant it can be
stored in our thermal energy storage for later
use, such as overnight heating.
Who’s behind it: Sunmark, Rambøll
ENERGY
ENERGY VISUALISATION
Correlating Use to Supply
Our interactive energy visualisation lets us know
where our energy comes from and where it goes.
Aligned with our goal of continuous improvement
we want an ongoing and thorough understanding
of the resource mix used to produce our power –
this means understanding the fluctuations
between highly renewable energy and highly
resource dependent energy. With this
understanding, we correlate our operational
practices to best mitigate environmental impacts.
Who’s behind it: GXN Innovation, Autodesk Research,
Strategic Innovation, Rambøll
ELIMINATING THE
CONCEPT OF WASTE
MATERIALS
ELIMINATING WASTE
Waste Equals Food
Waste? What waste? Reuse, upcycling,
recyclability, and the use of local material
resources are always prioritised at Green
Solution House. All new constructions and
renovations considered principles of Design for
Disassembly, maintaining material value into
the future. Existing furniture was reupholstered,
glass offcuts from local industry became a
landscaping material. As long as materials can
be separated and cleaned, they remain
nutrients for other cycles and support our goal
of zero waste.
NATURE
ENERGY MATERIALS
ENERGY FROM WASTE
Pyrolysis Plant
All food scraps and organic materials from the
main building are fed into our own stationary
pyrolysis plant. The process heats the waste,
breaking it down to produce natural gas and
biochar, which is valuable as a soil additive for
the gardens. The gas is combusted in a
combined heat and power engine, generating
heat and electricity for the building. Excess heat
is stored onsite as hot water in a swimming
pool, repurposed as a thermal energy storage
system.
Who’s behind it: Frichs A/S, GXN Innovation
Green Solution House second goal is
‘To demonstrate green solutions’
REDEFINE REVENUE
CIRCULAR
BUSINESS MODEL
Green Solution House third goal is
‘To promote continuous improvement’
TAK FOR OPMÆRKSOMHEDEN