The Augustenborg Eco-Neighbourhood Initiative

• Renovation and new-build of 1800 homes
• Green roofs
• Renewable energy
  • solar collectors
  • photovoltaics
  • innovative moveable sun-screen
  • heat exchanger feeding into district heating system
• Energy efficiency
  • Façade renovation
  • ‘CO2 slim club’
• Sustainable urban transport
  • Car pool with ethanol hybrid cars

The Ekostaden Augustenborg initiative has been one of the most far reaching sustainable urban renewal initiatives in Sweden. The Augustenborg neighbourhood in Malmö was built between 1948 & 1952 when it was a pioneer of Sweden's new social housing. The area has suffered a long period of social decline until the mid 1990s when a new partnership between housing company MKB and various departments in the City of Malmö, launched the Ekostaden renewal programme. Augustenborg has 1 800 homes, almost exclusively rented accommodation owned by MKB.

The Ekostaden programme started in 1998 and has addressed a wide range of issues relating to the whole built environment, as well as working with social issues in the neighbourhood. Augustenborg is now considered in positive terms by most residents in Malmö, 30% more residents are in work and empty apartments are a thing of the past.

The initiative has included the following elements-

Sustainable construction and renovation

Former steel shuttering with mineral wool insulation, installed on the old facades in the 1970s, has been removed on a number of housing blocks and replaced with modern external cellular plastic insulation with a render finish, restoring some of the original appearance of the buildings. The former system had a number of disadvantages such as thermal bridges in the fittings to the facades, inefficient insulation system, negative impact on internal environment & ventilation leading to damp problems, aesthetic problems. The new insulation system is attached directly to the façade overcoming many of the above problems and has a render finish which restores the 1950s character of the building.

There has been some new-build in the neighbourhood in addition to the waste management system. 32 new apartments for senior residents have been built as a lightweight structure on the concrete roof of an old underground car-park. Cost-efficient modular construction and the fact that the housing company already owned the vacant land helped ensure a good financial viability for the building with no public finance, despite an advanced aesthetic design and certain environmental measures including green roof for stormwater management.

In the school grounds a new modular building now provides the most attractive classrooms in the school. The demountable building is designed to be able to be moved to another school in the future if demand in Augustenborg decreases. The factory made timber building was designed specifically for Augustenborg but the potential of adapting it for serial production is underway. The building features a high level of natural lighting, heat recovery system, ground water heat pump for space heating, direct radiation initial heating system, solar collectors for hot water, natural materials and composting toilets. The building is designed to maintain a background temperature of around 17°C to be complimented by the heat generated by appliances, computers and not least children, when the building is in use. The direct radiation system installed in the ceiling helps maintain thermal comfort when the children first come into the building in the morning.

Green Roofs

Augustenborg's Botanical Roof Gardens started their life as an initiative to get to grips with the uncontrolled flooding problem that hit the neighbourhood on a regular basis due to pressure on the under-dimensioned combined sewage and drainage system. 10 000m2 of green roofs became Scandinavia's largest single green roof project. The EU LIFE funded initiative has included a vast range of research into green roofs, investigating not only their stormwater retention capacity, but also other properties such as extending the life expectancy of the roof seal, decreasing energy demand in the buildings, promoting biodiversity, aesthetic improvements etc. All new developments in the neighbourhood have green roofs and they have also been installed on a number of existing buildings.

Stormwater Management

Previous major flooding problems from the under-dimensioned combined sewage and drainage system have now been solved thanks to the open stormwater system which now retains 70% of all rainwater falling in the 32 ha neighbourhood. The system includes a number of different designs from the concrete urban to more naturalistic forms, but the whole system of channels and ponds is sealed as infiltration attempts could be counterproductive on the heavy clay soil. Part of the system has been designed by one of the local residents who has started his own business based on the natural movement of water.

Renewable Energy

Local residents in Augustenborg first started raising the issue of renewable energy when they heard about the development planned for the Western Harbour in Malmö. The resulting process has involved local people, energy supplier Sydkraft, the MKB housing company and the City of Malmö. The result is a number of solar energy installations in the neighbourhood that are supplying hot water and electricity for local use and also providing other benefits. 400m2 solar collectors are producing hot water on the roofs of the industrial estate with excess production being fed into the district heating system. 100m2 of photvoltaics function not only as an electricity production unit, but also shade south facing office windows from excessive solar gain during the summer months. An innovative moveable sun-screen that also functions as a solar collector and photovoltaic system, is about to be installed in another building on the industrial estate. One of the most innovative and cost efficient solar applications is also the most popular. Under the gravel football pitch in the park is now a series of pipes which extract heat from the ground and pump it into the district heating system, essentially functioning as a large solar collector. In the summer, Augustenborg has te coolest football pitch in Malmö, and in the winter, when temperatures fall below +5°C it is possible to create an ice rink which provides a social facility for about four months of the year.

Energy Efficiency

A number of measures have been undertaken to increase energy efficiency in the neighbourhood. Façade renovation as described above has contributed to 10% energy savings, measures to optimise the energy system throughout the neighbourhood has also reduced energy use by about 15%. A new initiative to introduce a pilot pay-as-you-use system for domestic heating (which is normally included in the rent) combined with an innovative "CO2 slim club" initiative is expected to decrease energy use by a further 15% in the target buildings.

Green spaces for nature and people

The outdoor environment has been enhanced in close consultation with local residents and school children to create a more pleasant environment for both people and biodiversity. The most dramatic changes have been as a result of the stormwater system which has created a large number of ponds and wetland areas which are attractive and a haven for wildlife. Other changes have included more trees, shrubs and flowers, as well as improved play areas including the music play ground in the park in which traditional play equipment is combined with other objects to create a fun play area.

Sustainable urban transport

The city's Public Works Unit based in the industrial estate has converted a large part of their vehicle fleet to alternative fuels including electricity, gas and ethanol. This has inspired local residents in an area with low car ownership to start their own car pool as a local community business, operating with ethanol hybrid cars. They have a special arrangement with the industrial estate management to access the ethanol filling station in their compound. In addition, a natural gas filling station opened recently on the main road by Augustenborg for the general public to use.

Earlier in the project, an experimental street train service operated for two years in an attempt to link Augustenborg with other peripheral housing areas to help local residents gain improved access to service centres, health care, banks, post office etc. The purpose built electric trains were able to cut through the neighbourhoods in a way that conventional public transport systems could not achieve. Unfortunately it was not possible to find a commercially viable system in the long term to continue this service and the trains are now in operation elsewhere.

More information about Augustenborg can be found on www.ekostaden.com.