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Zero-Energy urban development in Aalborg
Project Report
Marta Maria Sousa Leito
Attainment of Master Degree in
Architecture
Jury:
Supervisor: Professor Manuel de Arriaga Brito Correia Guedes
President: Professor Doutor Pedro Filipe Pinheiro de Serpa Brando
Examiner: Professor Manuel Guilherme Caras Altas Duarte Pinheiro
October 2012
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Introduction
01. Nordic Context
02. Project Briefing
03. Design Strategies
04. Performance Analysis
05. Design Synthesis
Conclusion
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EXTENDED ABSTRACT
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Introduction
This work is the final result of the studies carried out in
the Integrated Master of Architecture, in Instituto Supe-
rior Tcnico, Universidade Tcnica de Lisboa (Techni-
cal University of Lisbon). This report is based on the
work developed between February and June 2012, in
the Sustainable Architecture course, which I attended in
Aalborg University (Denmark) and where I was studying
for one year as an Erasmus student.
This report is about a project developed with a group of
five Danish students, Brian Srensen, Hans Mller, Niko-
laj Olesen, Patrick Vinther and Rene Frandsen, along
a semester that had as a goal studying and exploring
sustainable architecture concepts, with special focus on
Zero-Energy architecture.
As a group, we developed the project that was the start-
ing point of this report. From there, I developed a critical
analysis on the project results, reflecting upon sustain-
able concepts in the Nordic1 context. In this way, the
context research and the design strategies investiga-
tion were carried out individually, with exception of the
Social context, which was also investigated as a group.
1 The term Nordic comprises the Scandinavian countries: Denmark,
Finland, Sweden and Norway.
The performance analysis was also made through the
project design process. However, the interpretation of
the results, the critical overview, and the ideas for fur-
ther work were based on my perspective on the devel-
oped project and the matters that it rises. Finally, it must
be said that the students from Aalborg University have
a different knowledge of architecture, mostly based on
theoretical analysis within an engineering background, a
strong component in their education. Therefore, the over-
all project might reflect a lack of drawing, and sketching
that could help in the relation between the technical and
theoretical knowledge, which could have improved the
architectural quality of the project design.
The project is about designing a mixed-use housing com-
plex in Aalborg (Denmark), containing climate-optimized
high density dwellings. It is also required that two typolo-
gies of dwellings have to be presented, which should
reflect the Danish way of living. The solutions should be
within the requirements of a Zero-energy Building and it
should discuss some sustainable strategies.
Sustainability has been an emergent field in architecture
and very relevant in the way architecture is evolving in
recent years. As a construction art in the building cre-
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Zero-energy development in Aalborg
ation, architecture has been submitted to social con-
cerns, adaptation to new environments, development of
new materials, construction techniques and at the same
time to new ways of thinking in the environmental, so-
cial, cultural and economic fields. A new conscience has
been raised towards the impact of the human being in
his environment, and new opportunities to create inno-
vative architecture have appeared. Making man under-
stand how a better relation with nature can mean better
comfort and quality of life should be a role of sustainable
architecture, in a way that understanding the surround-
ing environment is essential to take the most advantage
of it. In this way with this project it will be possible to
discuss and reflect upon architecture as a tool not only
to create good architectural spaces, but also to extend
this architectural quality to the sustainable domain. It is
important to explore how architecture and sustainability
can work together and how the integrated design is im-
portant in that process to create sustainable dwellings.
Therefore, the following goals establish the development
of the report:
The report was organized in five chapters sequentially
from the most global issues involved in the context until
the most particular, the project itself. The first chapter
consists of the investigation of Nordic Context, reflect-
ing on the cultural and social background and how sus-
tainability has been discussed in the architectural field.
The second one, Project Briefing, will present the project
program, the methodology, the site and the most impor-
tant characteristics of the area and its microclimate. The
third chapter presents the Design Strategies that are im-
portant for the development of the project, having as a
starting point the intended vision for the site. It is also
discussed the possible solutions and typologies, on a
energy-eficiency perspective. The fourth and fifth chap-
ters illustrate the Performance Analysis drafted during
the design process of the project, which are interpreted
and discussed from a critical point of view. The results of
the analysis are reflected on the project solutions, which
are presented in the Design Synthesis chapter, by using
diagrams, plans and sections to explain the design solu-
tions. The last chapter is called Further Work, in which
a personal reflection is carried out, demonstrating what
could have been changed or further explored, in case
the project would be continued. Finally, the Conclusion
ends the report providing a critical overview of what was
achieved with the project and the report.
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01. The Nordic Context
In the 20th century, Nordic architecture met its golden
era with the introduction of Functionalism, which had
its breakthrough with the Stockholm Exhibition (1930),
which master plan was designed by Gunnar Asplund.
However, the development of Functionalism in the North
soon moved away from the Bauhaus influences; it be-
came light and sophisticated and contained what might
be called warmth, moving in the direction of organicism.
One of the front figures of organic architecture, the Nor-
wegian architect Knut Knutsen, expressed that architects
must take care of nature, in a way that buildings should
not become destructive. These thoughts were reflecting
the spirit of the Nordic population to live in contact and
harmony with nature (Lund 2008). In this way, Nordic ar-
chitecture was inspired by international architecture, but
evolved in a different way, experiencing a different matu-
ration and becoming more human; the nature forms the
architecture and not the other way around. In contrast
to the rest of Europe, the impact of the Industrialization
was not as explosive in the North, where things changed
slowly. Architecture and design in the region held on to
craftsmanship traditions, creating an architectural typi-
cal of the region (Lund 2008). Because of this, Nordic
architects are mostly concerned with designing quality
for the majority because () buildings are designed for
people and not for the cold logic of theory (Lund 2008).
This meeting between social compromise and architec-
tural consciousness is what most defines the Nordic tra-
dition. Moreover, the long winters and the lack of sunlight
inspired the architects and also the designers to create
the domestic environment as comfortable as possible
with the materials at hand, giving emphasis to light and
warmth. Aesthetic experiences can have a profound im-
pact on our understanding of nature and our place within
the larger ecological web. Likewise, aesthetically pleas-
ing architecture can enhance our relationship with the
environmental and foster ecological awareness. (Gu-
zowski, 2010).
When talking about Danish architecture, one of the most
important names is Jorn Utzon (1918 2008). He repre-
sented in his buildings all the qualities from the Nordic
architecture, the concern with the nature and the syn-
thetic capacity of relating form, material and function in
a way that emphasizes the social values. (Utzon, 2009)
In his projects, there was already an implicit sustainable
way of approaching architecture, by the use of local
materials, the concern with the site and the idea of pre-
fabricated elements were some of the characteristics of
Utzons Additive Principle. Example of this architecture
is the Kingo Houses (1956-58), in Denmark, a group of
63 L-shaped houses that remind some of the old farm-
house, with central courtyards and within a scale that
reveals his conscience of the human scale. Here, yellow
Figure 01 : Villa Mairea (1937-39) in Noormarkku, Finland. Aalvar Aalto
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brick and wood are the selected materials, which are the
key elements in the way this architecture is evolving and
being more and more integrated with the site (Fig. 02).
On the other hand, it is quite visible that another move-
ment is emerging in contemporary Danish Architecture,
led by a group of young architects and studios. Bjarke
Ingles (BIG) is the studio that represent the major break-
through, with a lot of built projects in the newest part of
Copenhagen, restad. For instance, the housing com-
plex 8 (2009) is one of the projects that have a sus-
tainable awareness, in which the building formation and
orientation is set according to the sun path so the build-
ing can take the most advantage of solar gains (Fig. 03).
In this way, the referred examples express that the defi-
nition of sustainable architecture is intrinsically connect-
ed to the essence of Architecture. When looking back
to the History of Architecture, Vitruvius already pointed
the principles of sustainable architecture. The system of
firmitas, venustas and utilitas (form, beauty and function)
should include a close relation with nature, by taking
advantage of the characteristics of the site, specially its
natural resources such as daylight and natural ventila-
tion. It is also possible to find sustainable strategies in
the vernacular architecture, which construction is based
on the empirical knowledge of generations.
Throughout the late 20th and 21st century a variety of con-
cepts emerged from the idea of creating a sustainable
architecture. Low-energy, Solar design, Passive de-
sign, Bioclimatic, Ecological, Green, Self-sufficient and
Zero-energy are some of the terms used in the universe
of Sustainable Architecture. It is no easy to distinguish
them because these approaches have close meanings,
presenting slight variations in the context and time that
emerged. However, it is possible to say that Sustainable
Architecture is the widest group, considering Social, En-
vironmental and Economic matters. Inside, theres all the
other groups, being the Bioclimatic design the most ex-
tensive part, comprehending the self-sufficient architec-
ture, in which is located the Zero-Energy architecture.
In recent years, the attention given to environmental
and sustainable design has only increased as a result
of climate changes and rising energy prices. This en-
tire movement of architecture and design was estab-
lished over five decades ago, but instead of reaching a
clear definition, the environmental field is perhaps over-
burdened by social trends and discussions caused by
globalization and the rapid information society. Back in
time, architecture was occupied with increasing com-
fort, but todays movement is concerned with ethical re-
sponsibility towards future generations - a responsibility
measured in energy use and carbon dioxide emissions
(Hardy, 2008). In other words, standardization and legal
modalities of installations also threaten the architectural
space and its sensuous qualities, whereby the individual
identifies a sense of belonging to the particular place.
Figure 02 : Kingo Houses (1956-58), Jorn Utzon. Helsingor, Denmark Figure 03 : 8, BIG. Orestad, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Sustainable architecture must be defined as a notion
consisting of more than environmental concern and ex-
ploitation of modern technology; the architectural space
and its significance to human beings cannot be denied,
and it is therefore as important as a part of the ethical
responsibility included in the notion of sustainability as
the easier measurable quantities of energy use and car-
bon dioxide emissions. This of course demands aware-
ness from the architect, who must have the knowledge
of sustainabilitys true definition to achieve a holistic ar-
chitecture. Sustainable architecture can be more than
just a calculation and rather a tectonic solution with high
architectural quality in a close connection to the context
and human needs. The first step in the project was dis-
cussing the sustainable advantages of different dwelling
typologies, the high-rise and the terraced house.
The high-rise have become a distinguished form of
housing accommodation in densely populated urban
areas around the world. In contrast to low-rise and sin-
gle-family houses, these high-rise accommodate more
inhabitants per square metre of occupied land and also
decrease the cost of municipal infrastructure. Regard-
ing this project, it is clear that neither dense urban area
nor estate speculation is the pivotal point. However, the
high-rise can optimize energy use by the compact mass
and sharing technical installations will also give a factor
to the sustainability. As an answer to the most twentieth-
century multi-storey buildings that eliminate the human
individuality and the opportunity to express it, the stu-
dio SITE developed a project called High-rise of Homes
(Fig. 04). This experimental design organizes vertically
20 floors, composed by individual residences with gar-
dens and exterior space. Although it was not taken seri-
ously on that time, this project seems very timely and
relevant for present discussion in the field of architecture
and sustainability, especially in the Danish architectural
context. High-rise buildings are not often built mainly be-
cause Danish cities are less dense than, for instance,
American cities. For this reason, the high rise might not
be the most sustainable solution in the Nordic context,
though having some advantages. However, the idea of
having a vertical city with different functions together
with public spaces was exciting and worth exploring.
In addition, a high-rise building can be the catalyst for
structuring the urban identity of the particular site and
enhances the skyline of Aalborg by connecting the tall
eastern industrial buildings with this western high-rise.
From an empirical analysis, the detached-house seems
to be the typology that is usually associated to quality
of life. In recent years, Danish architecture has shown
that it is possible to build attractive buildings with the
integrated environmental strategies and giving some of
the qualities of the detached-houses. In this way, the ter-
raced housing seems to be a good typology not only in
what concerns energy demands, but also as an answer
to the Danish architecture, in a way that compact archi-
tecture and well furnished rooms is a way of approach-
ing sustainable architecture.
After investigating the advantage of the two referred resi-
dential typologies, it seemed opportune to explore how
they could be combined together in order to achieve
something better. It has been evidenced that monofunc-
tionallity is the cause of some of the urban problems,
and diversity has been the solution, not only in uses but
also in what concerns typologies and people. Jane Ja-
cobs wrote a book in 1961 called The Death and Life
of Great American Cities, where she finds great advan-
tages when diversity occurs.
Figure 04 : High-rise of Homes (1981), SITE
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Zero-energy development in Aalborg
02. Project BriefingThis project is about designing a mixed-use zero-ener-
gy housing complex in Aalborg containing climate-op-
timized high density dwellings. The solution should be
within the requirements of a Zero-energy Building, but
also look to obtain a holistic sustainable solution. The
following paragraph from the project brief is particularly
interesting: Building a mixed-use zero-energy hous-
ing complex takes empathy and careful considerations
on how to provide indoor privacy and outdoor private
spaces in a dense urban context while at the same time
providing good common paths and spaces for common
activities and daily life. It takes close considerations con-
cerning climate, sun and daylight to provide apartments
with fine daylight qualities and good indoor climate while
at the same time reducing the need for supplied ener-
gy. (Study Board for Architecture and Design, 2012).
The next paragraph helps to find the preferable qualities
for the inhabitants: (...) it is also well known, that the
main part of Danish inhabitants, and especially families
with children, finds the open, green, suburban way of
living in detached houses most attractive (Study Board
for Architecture and Design, 2012). Knowing this, it is
possible to take it as a point of departure in the design
phase, where it will be discussed how these qualities
can be integrated in a high dense building.
The site is located in Aalborg, a city with a strong in-
dustrial heritage, located in North Jutland. Aalborg is the
fourth most populated city in Denmark, having a multi-
cultural population mainly due to Aalborg University that
is responsible for attracting a lot of international students
(Statistik om Folketal, 2009). The character of the city
relates to the proximity of the fjord1 that has been allow-
ing boats and ships to reach the city. Crossing the city in
two (Aalborg and Norresundby), the Limfjord has always
played an important role in the city. The site is located
5km from the city center of Aalborg, at the south bank of
the Limfjord. Located right next to the site, at the coast
line, there is a small boat terminal that connects Aalborg
to Egholm, a green island located right in the middle of
the Limfjord.
Compared to the rest of the city, this area holds a rec-
reational character, which is related to the quality of
the open landscape. The context is dominated by lei-
sure functionalities, such as the two marinas, the camp-
ing site, the Military Museum, the coast line of the fjord
where a lot of people exercise and walk the dog. The
open-air swimming pool, the public baths in the fjord
and the sports field are used extensively throughout the
summer . In addition, there is a residential area - Marina
Fjordparken - was built in 2008 (Andelsforeningen Ma-1 A fjord is a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea usually be-tween high cliffs (Oxford dictionary).
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rina Fjordparken 2012). Further away, the landscape is
characterized by the DAC silos at Lindholm Brygge and
the small island of Egholm. Generally, the site is domi-
nated by wild vegetation, such as bushes, trees and wild
flowers, which contrasts with the grass lawns established
right next to the residential blocks (Fig.05).
In order to find what are the most preferable qualities in
a house for a Dane, it was taken as a starting point the
Thorkild rs Phd (r 2002), where it was discussed
some typologies and its architectural qualities: open-low,
open-tall, close-low and close-tall. Taking into consider-
ation that the brief sets a fairly high building percentage
and also some considered distance to the surrounding
buildings, the site seems quite favorable to the open-tall
category of rs work. From the open-tall typology he
concluded that the quality parameters were a large size
of apartments, a balcony, a good view and easy access
to public transportation, public institutions and shops.
However, he concludes that the apartment types are not
the preferred home, since a large part of the inhabitants
of rented and owned apartments wishes to move within
five years. The open-low typology is the ideal preference
of homes from the users of the various dwelling typolo-
gies. However, having an ideal does not necessarily
mean the same as dissatisfaction with the users current
home. In the open-low typology, the parameters for qual-
ity are individuality, influence, status and positioning in
society (r, 2002). Taking into consideration his stud-
ies it is possible to conclude that combining the qualities
from the open-low typology with the qualities from the
open-tall would create a forte for the building, being at-
tractive for most of the Danish population.
The microclimate is an important component in the char-
acterization of the site, since the outdoor conditions are
determinant for the way a building behaves. In this way,
the idea of designing buildings in relation to the microcli-
mate is done to exploit the possibilities of passive solu-
tions. To accommodate the specific microclimate, the ar-
chitecture needs to understand it in order to optimize the
building mass to it. The microclimate of the building site
can be different from another location close to it, as the
Figure 05 : Picture of the site
climate is highly influenced by its immediate surround-
ings. Denmark is situated in the zone between three
European climatic zones - Borea influence in the north,
Atlantic influence in the west and Continental influence
in the east - which makes the climate throughout Den-
mark slightly diverse, but in generally it can be consid-
ered temperate. This means that the climate in Aalborg
can be described as the winters being mild and windy
and the summers being cool, without big extreme oscil-
lations. The temperature varies according to the season
and time of day. The daily average and maximum can
be used to determine heating and cooling demands dur-
ing the day, whereas the monthly average gives an esti-
mate of the season length where heating and cooling are
needed. The direct solar gain is the most simple way of
using the sun energy, being also useful in terms of di-
rect daylight. Having in consideration the cold weather,
taking advantage of the solar heating from the sun is ex-
tremely important. In this way, it is relevant to identify the
sun path, especially in the winter months when the solar
heat gain is wanted and the altitude of the sun is the low-
est. Throughout the year, the path changes being much
longer in the summer than in the winter. In Aalborg, the
direction of the wind is most frequently and harsh from
the west, which can be a problem for the outdoor areas
and it should then be considered when designing those.
The layout and shape of buildings and vegetation can
diffuse and divert the harsh wind, creating lee in the ar-
eas for staying.
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Zero-energy development in Aalborg
03. Design StrategiesThe vision for this project is focused on the creation of
an architecture that incorporates the suburban qualities
from the single-family house into dwellings, that should
reflect the Nordic way of living. Those qualities will be
expressed into in two typologies, high-rise and terraced
housing, which will be combined with offices and ser-
vices. This will form an urban mix of residential, public
and recreational areas that will bring life to the site. At
the same time, it will integrate and relate the existing
functionalities, becoming part of the urban fabric. In this
way, the vision works as a concept and guidance for the
design process, making all the components move in the
same direction. For this reason, the vision is a concept
and a challenge, being also useful in the explanation of
the design solutions.
To help building the concept it was essential to define
design parameters, which come as a result of the previ-
ous investigation. Since the project briefing phase that it
has been referred how the suburbs accomplish the most
preferable dwelling qualities by Danish people and that
it should be clarified which are precisely those qualities:
own entrance (individuality), residential road (light traf-
fic), exterior spaces (private gardens) and the social
relationships (sense of neighborhood). Due to the ten-
dency for diversity it is not intended to provide all the
apartments with the best qualities at the same time that
the site offers. As a result, this project will mainly concern
the design of two different typologies of single-family
dwellings: terraced housing and high-rise apartments.
Each typology promotes a set of site-specific qualities,
but they should both interpret the qualities of suburban
living, though in different ways. They should complement
each other in an area with social coherence and shared
green areas, while still allowing privacy and individual-
ity. These criteria are useful when looking at the building
by itself but, as referred before, the context lacks iden-
tity and structure. Therefore it is intended to explore: a
high-rise building that creates a relation with the urban
identity; Terraced housing that will provide a frame for
the single-family lifestyle with focus on the close relation
to nature; Services, offices and public green areas that
will promote public life.
The urban form is the result of the complex interaction
between interrelated matters: climatic, economic, social,
political, aesthetic, technical and regulatory. In this way,
land use is a very important factor in the sustainable ur-
ban form. In the 20th century, the zoning1 regulations
resulted in energy waste in terms of transportation, in
which people had to spend a lot of time travelling great
distances, decreasing the quality of life and affecting
the global pollution. However, there has been an effort
1 Separation between living, working an recreation
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to change those policies to create more sustainable cit-
ies, by exploiting multi-purpose buildings and spaces
with a mix of civic, office, retail, leisure and residential
uses. Taking into account the context where the project
was developed, the solution might rely on a mix of high
dense with low dense areas, in an attempt to combine
advantages of both. Another important aspect for sus-
tainable urban planning is the creation of green areas
at a number of scales. Multi-purpose green areas can
reduce pollution, increase biological biodiversity and im-
prove the quality of life of residents. Thus, contributing
also for the social, physical and phsycological health of
the neighborhoods. Moreover, the vegetation can mod-
erate the microclimate, in a way that it interferes posi-
tively in humidity, temperature, wind, daylight noise and
pollution. The sustainability of the project should start in
the beginning of the design process, so the typologies
referred in the vision should be investigated, in terms of
advantages and disadvantages.
The reasons for building an high-rise in Aalborg were dis-
cussed based on cultural,architectural and sustainable
aspects. The first reason is related to the intention of cel-
ebrating the industrial tall buildings existent in Aalborg,
by giving the city one more of these strong reference
points, from where it is possible to appreciate not only
the view to the fjord, but also to the city. The second one,
is the possibility to explore the qualities of the high-rise
such as views and tranquility in the dwelling, something
different from most of the buildings in the city, which are
facing a noisy and active urban life. The third one is re-
lated to the energy efficiency. In terms of shared techni-
cal installations, it is possible to say that the high-rise
typology can become a good way of optimizing space,
in a way that vertical buildings occupy a smaller part of
the plot, what allows more public space at ground level.
However, there are still some disadvantages. It seems
that there is no doubt that tall buildings consume more
energy per square meter than lower buildings, mainly
due to the elevators energy consumption and the em-
bodied energy in the materials. High-rise buildings are
also more exposed the climate conditions, considering
that there is no more tall buildings in the surroundings
that could shield it. In a addition, the position according
to the surroundings is extremely important, taking into
consideration that high-rises can take light and view to
the other buildings. Nevertheless, there are some op-
portunities that are interesting for the projects vision.
The main idea for this residential tower is to take some of
the qualities of the suburban dwelling such as individual-
ity and exterior spaces, and combining them in a vertical
villa road. As an initial idea, having one apartment per
floor would not be the most optimal solution, even in
the conceptual state. In this way, grouping two apart-
ments per floor would be the best compromise between
individuality, light, view and energy. Another important
issue is the vertical winds; skirts and wind shields are
essential to the comfort of the pedestrians and the ur-
ban spaces in the surroundings. Even though the wind-
speeds occurs at the upper levels of the tall building, the
introduction of a skycourt or an atrium that can be private
and shared can enhance the villa road concept and also
improve the well-being of the occupants (Yeang, 1996).
These spaces can bring advantages in terms of natural
ventilation.
In what concerns the terraced houses, the main quality
would be having a closer relation to the ground, there-
fore having the opportunity for all the houses to have a
private garden. The possibility of creating different out-
door areas will give space to the social affiliation that
this project is seeking out. To achieve these qualities,
a minimum footprint would be ideal and a dwelling with
multiple stories seemed to be the solution. This will cre-
ate open space for the public without compromising the
initial idea of allowing houses to have direct contact with
the ground. When talking about vertical living, there is
a prompt relation with compact and dense architecture
that characterizes dutch architecture. For instance, the
houses developed in Borneo-Sporenburg (Amsterdam).
It is a fact that Aalborg, and especially the site of the
project, are not dense areas, but the dutch typology fol-
lows the project vision. Knowing that it is being con-
sidered a terraced house with three storeys, the place-
ment of functions has to be optimized so that the vertical
movement is minimized through the day.
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Zero-energy development in Aalborg
04. Performance Analysis
Figure 06 : Wind studies for the atrium
Figure 07 : Daylight factor diagram, with atrium
0
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4
6
8
10
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16
18
20
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
Tem
pera
ture
C
Hours along the day
Atrium, 1st January
InteriorTemp
ExteriorTemp
T. ext
T. int
Figure 08: Temperatures in the Atrium, Bsim analysis
28m
11m
8m
In order to evaluate the investigated design strategies, it
was developed an analysis performance on the referred
typologies. They were based on three programs, Be10,
Velux and BSim. These programs were used during
the design process and repeated in several loops. As
as an overall strategy, firstly it was made some analysis
of the building envelope, from which was possible to de-
termine the best orientation and then test it in the wind
tunnel. It required some time to get all the input, such as
walls and windows area, and also U-values. Then, Velux
allowed the optimization of window area that was used in
Be10. Finally, the indoor climate was analyzed by using
Bsim, together with the Velux and Be10, in several itera-
tions till the best solution was found. BSim is the most
complex program. It took some time to draw the model
and to define all the required parameters, but once it
is done, the different performances are quite easy to
get. This scientific knowledge was carried out along the
design of the project, being a thorough process when
confronting with the desired architectural solutions. This
process was applied for all the components of the proj-
ect, terraced-house and high-rise. The masterplan was
only tested in the wind tunnel, for wind performance, and
in google sketch up, for sun studies.
The diagrams in Figure 08 illustrate the analysis perfor-
mance for the high-rise, in special the performance of
the atrium.
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05. Design Synthesis NFigure 09 : Final Masterplan, scale1:4000
0 10 30
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UC
T
The masterplan is a combination of terraced housing
and a high-rise in relation with gardens, plazas, offices
and services. The layout for the site was found trough
an iterative process and by bearing in mind the analysis
and design strategies defined before. Creating useful
spaces between the buildings and optimizing them in
terms of wind and daylight were the main parameters in
the design. As there is a need for traffic connections to
all buildings, regarding emergencies, fire,ambulances,
etc., the roads are chosen as one-way streets to mini-
mize the area occupied by roads to liberating some ar-
eas to leisure and recreation. With the limited amount
of cars in the area and no thoroughfares, it should be
reasonable to only have one-way streets (Fig.09).
Diversity is encouraged by the high-rise and the pub-
lic spaces that are surrounding it. Offices and services
make the transition between the tower and the high rise,
generating a lively atmosphere. To create social diver-
sity, the masterplan defined three typologies of houses
for different users : single family houses (4 people);
students shared apartments (3-4 people); senior apart-
ments (2 people). It was investigated how these typol-
ogies can function together, but only the single-family
houses were detailed.
The main idea for the high-rise is the combination of
two apartments and a shared atrium, capable of acti-
vating the living areas of the apartments. The bedrooms
are joined together and closed, while kitchens and liv-
ing rooms are more open to the atrium. The elevators
and a staircase form a core, which can be perceived
as the vertical interpretation of the infrastructure of the
residential road, in a way that could resemble the House
of Homes referred before.
The main concept for the apartment is to be organized
around the atrium, which will be the meeting space of
the four apartments creating opportunity for social rela-
tions between the neighbors. These spaces work as the
gardens and the streets from the single family house,
that are working together with the vertical accesses,
composed by two elevators and a fire-escape staircase.
By being an exterior space, the atrium contains the out-
door activities, by being a space where you can park
your bike, plant vegetation, play games or read a book.
The organization of the four apartments differs from top
to bottom. The top apartments have balconies instead of
direct access to the ground floor, still being free to use it.
In this way, the inhabitants of high-rise are encouraged
to use the atrium, and the space then interrelates the
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15
Zero-energy development in Aalborg
A A
B
B
Figure 10 : Floor plan and Section A, High-rise scale 1:400
N
Figure 11: Plan ground floor and cross Section, Terraced house scale1:400
EXIT
N
four families to a sense of a neighborhood (Fig.10). In
addition, the atrium should work as an extension of the
living areas, and the kitchen and living room are there-
fore compressed to encourage the inhabitants to use the
atrium. Moreover, this atrium has the potential to assist
the indoor climate of the apartments, making cross venti-
lation possible. Also, the vegetation inside the atrium can
work as passive cooling in the summer. In case of windy
or hot days, the atrium is provided with sliding windows
be completely opened or closed, depending on the out-
door conditions and on the users will. The best quality
about this atrium is the view that is orientated towards
southeast, due to wind conditions.
The terraced-house typology is distributed by three
floors, so every unit has direct contact with the ground
floor, allowing a private garage and private garden. The
house is divided in five half-floors, in order to minimise
the distance between the rooms. The first floor is consti-
tuted by the garage, entrance hall, with a small closet, a
toilet and the kitchen,with direct access to the garden;
In the second floor are placed the children bedrooms
and half floor above the living room. On the last floor,
the most private space in the house is the master bed-
room, with a private bathroom and a small study room.
The element that connects all the rooms is a wooden
staircase, which allows the light to go through the steps
(Fig.10). As it is possible to see in the section, the liv-
ing areas have a closer relation with the gardens while
the other rooms are more private. On top of the house,
theres a senior apartment, which spans one and a half
family-house, and its distributed by an exterior gallery.
By having apartments on top of the single family hous-
ing, the density is increased and it is created a place
for elderly people with private gardens. The access to
the top of the building is thought to be made by eleva-
tors located in the elbows of the building. The student
housing is organized as flatshare, where there would be
one bedroom per floor and common functions such as
kitchen, bath and living-room would be shared. These
slabs will vary from 3 to 5 storey high terraced houses
with shared gardens.
Considering the achieved architectural solutions, there
could be further developed. Extending the performance
analysis to the offices and services typologies could be
one interesting investigation . In addition, exploring oth-
er sources of renewable energy production to the site
could also reduce the energy demands and bring new
solutions to the project.
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Zero-energy development in Aalborg
16
Conclusion
With this project it was possible to discuss sustainable
concepts and strategies implied to a Zero Energy devel-
opment, in a city that has an identity very inherent to the
Nordic culture. The context was very decisive to most of
the design solutions, not only in the environmental field,
but especially in the social and cultural domain. Under-
stand where and how Aalborg citizens would like to live
was fundamental for the design. This project complied
with the parameters given in the brief for the spatial pro-
gram, in which were required the detailing of two units:
one of maximum 115 m2 and both with 20 m2 outdoor
space. The buildings hold the zero-energy demand and
the total floor to area ratio is between 80% and 150%.
As a conceptual idea, the combination of a high-rise
typology with terraced houses resulted in a variety of
public and private exterior spaces with different sizes,
functions, qualities and users. This seems to work good
in a mixed-use development, which has been showing
proof that is a way of envisioning sustainable cities. Ex-
amples of this can be found in different times and con-
texts, from Barbican till the Freeland (MVRDV, Venice
Biennale 2012), in which the city should grow without
urban planning, according to the needs, individual de-
sires and community goals, being open to all typologies
of buildings. Paola Sassi emphasizes these issues in her
book Strategies for Sustainable Architecture, saying that
To create sustainable cities, life has to be brought back
into the city, not only to a preferable few, but to all social
groups. Employment, housing, education, culture and
leisure facilities should be available to all. () The out-
dated principle of zonig uses has been overtaken by the
concept of mixed use, where working, leisure and living
spaces are as close as possible (Sassi, 2006). With this,
it is possible to understand that sustainability can start in
the program.
In what concerns the masterplan design, there were
sustainable strategies implied from the beginning. It has
been given great considerations of daylight, solar heat
gain, wind, and this was reflected in the orientation of
the building mass, and consequently in dwellings lay-
out. These had positive consequences on the quality of
the exterior spaces for both private and public gardens.
Moreover, going further in the landscape design could
have developed the quality of these spaces, which might
seem unfinished. However, there are still a few houses
that did not end in the most optimal orientation. In this
project it was developed one of the houses that it is turn-
ing -55, however, this typology does not work in the
same way as the 55 orientation, in which direct light and
solar gains in the winter, especially in the living areas,
seem a bit odd. This could be solved with another plan
solution, contributing with some variety for the terraced
housing, escaping from the monotonous pattern that is
created by the faades.
The high rise, or the vertical villa road, was a result of
bringing in the qualities of the suburbs to a more urban
setting, giving rise to a new interpretation of what it could
be living in a vertical neighborhood with similar social
relations. In addition, this resulted in a critical overview
to the dense cities growth, where the qualities from the
traditional neighborhoods are being lost. To solve the
lack of sociability in the high rise buildings, the apart-
ments were organized around a sequence of atria, each
one being shared by four families. In this way, the atria
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17
Zero-energy development in Aalborg
work as Skygardens where the view recalls the memory
of what was an industrial city.
In the terraced house the main focus was the proximity
with nature and the opportunity of having direct contact
with the ground, being the main reason why they are built
in height, in order to give to all the houses a direct con-
nection with the ground level. The final plans ended to
be quite complex and may create some problems for the
constructions and the prefabrications of the construction
elements. This happened from the moment it was made
the horizontal displacement and going one step back
could clarify the plan. Also the facades needed iteration,
together with a more precise materials choice. The same
investigation on materials and faade composition could
be useful to improve the High-rise faade, which might
lack of relation with the Terraced houses. The incorpo-
ration of photovoltaics has been set aside to the roofs.
This has been done to make them less visible, to ease
the construction and increase the efficiency of the cells.
Its use was anticipated from the start and it is a part of
the final design, so while the high-rise provides land for
green areas for the benefit of the terraced houses, the
terraced houses will provide electricity. This conceptual
idea of dependence between the typologies was some-
thing that it was sought.
In order to achieve a good relation between the sustain-
able strategies and the context parameters, the project
was based on the integrated design process, though
having a strong focus on qualitative measures. It was
interesting to understand how energy use, light, air qual-
ity and thermal comfort can actually extend the architec-
tural quality to a better stage. In this way, sustainability
was envisioned as a tool to achieve architectural quality
rather than be used as a style. Therefore, the sustain-
ability is based on the life and quality of the rooms and
the spaces between the buildings and how they can be
appreciated during considerable time.
With this project it was possible to understand that sus-
tainable architecture can have different approaches,
from the very high-tech till the simple passive design,
and its on the architects hands the responsibility to
choose the most adequate to the environmental and cul-
tural conditions. From a learning perspective, applying
sustainable strategies to the architecture is not as dif-
ficult as I was expecting and only with passive design is
possible to improve the architectural quality of a certain
building. In addition, Bsim and Be10 were very useful
tools in the process design.
This project and this report proves that achieving the
Zero-energy goal is difficult and involves different fields,
besides architecture. However, understanding the rela-
tion of interdependency between architecture, climate
and traditions and making this relation clear in the de-
sign strategies is a good way of extending the architec-
tural quality of a certain building, which is also the result
of efforts from different disciplines.
As a student from a southern culture it was very interest-
ing to deal with the Nordic context and learn from Danish
architecture. From my point of view what most charac-
terizes Danish traditional architecture are the compact
way of designing spaces -mainly due to thermal condi-
tions - , the use of brick and wood as local materials and
the need of being close to nature. And it is in the roots
of traditional architecture that the sustainable approach
can be further developed. Danish architecture is already
very developed in the sustainable field, especially in
terms of technology. When comparing to the Portuguese
situation it is possible to see that sustainable architec-
ture in Portugal is not that developed.
Integrating sustainable aims in the buildings, associat-
ing sustainability to the architectural quality is the big
challenge for the Portuguese architects. This might be
related to the education, in which the sustainable archi-
tecture awareness starts. Educating for passive design
integrated in the design process of the academic proj-
ects could be a good way of creating sustainable aware-
ness for the next generation of architects.