As is the case with all other HCLS projects, we will be focusing on sustainability in the renovation process. The construction industry remains one of the biggest offenders when it comes to emission of greenhouse gases. Our aim is to create a building with an excellent indoor climate, which is a very important parameter as we humans on average spend up to 90% of our lives indoors. With this in mind, we want the project to focus on investigating and choosing building materials and methods for energy optimisation that are both sustainable and have a direct positive impact on the indoor climate – to ensure a healthy life within the building.

We want to document this process step by step, as we have found that there is a lack of knowledge in this area. To ensure the best possible basis for our project, we have teamed up with the talented architects Djernes & Bell, landscape architect Kjeld Slot and materials experts, who all appreciate the seriousness of the man-made climate changes we are seeing and share our concern and call for decisive action.

In partnership with these specialists, we will be discussing and experimenting with sustainable solutions – for example underfloor insulation, roof constructions and wastewater systems. Or how best to bring nature into the building.

If you are interested in sustainable building renovation, follow us here or on Instagram. We will be posting regularly in both places and providing updates on what we are learning and experiencing during the renovation of the old school building.

We believe that sustainability is created in the balance between environmental and social considerations. With this in mind, prior to the renovation, we have established 3 focus points (our sustainability goals), which form the basis for this renovation project:   

Resource optimization – Healthy indoor climate – Energy efficiency 

We mainly use bio-based building materials and focus on reuse and recycling, in order to meet our goals for optimizing resources. In cases where we have several materials / solutions to choose from, we carry out a life cycle assessment (LCA) and select the material with the lowest environmental impact; at the same time, the price of the material also influences our choice. To ensure a healthy indoor climate we avoid the use of problematic substances that are harmful to both human health and the environment. 

We focus on reuse and recycling in both the demolition and renovation phase. To create an overview and get cleaner waste fractions, we have carried out an environmental screening prior to the renovation, which has given us knowledge about whether there are problematic chemicals in the construction waste and if yes, where they are, in order to handle them separately. In cases where we use materials that are not already on site, we will try to assemble them from other (preferably local) demolition or renovation projects. 

Another way we ensure better utilization of our resources is by optimizing the resource consumption of the building during operation. We do this by establishing a vertical ground source heat pump system read more together with solar cells, wastewater systems and rainwater harvesting all of which meet our goals for energy efficiency.