Climate-smart villa being built in Lund

In a pilot project led by FOJAB Arkitekter, the first completely inorganic low-energy villa of its kind is now being built in Stångby, north of Lund. The villa has twice the window area of conventional passive houses, but energy use can still be reduced by about 10-20% compared to the requirements for passive houses. The villa is equipped with newly developed sustainable innovations such as sliding window shutters and an all-concrete construction.

- Interest in low-energy houses has exploded over the past year, both for private homes and also from housing companies and commercial properties. "We have managed to design several new technical innovations in sustainable construction, especially for window solutions and building construction, which we are now testing in this pilot project," says Sune Nilsson, architect and project manager at FOJAB arkitekter.

The two-storey villa is equipped with a new type of insulating sliding shutters outside the windows. The sliding shutters give the windows twice the thermal insulation of standard low-energy windows and provide excellent sun protection. Residents choose if and when they want daylight, solar protection or low energy use. Large windows and glass sections have long been trendy and in demand, but difficult to combine with sustainable construction. Sliding shutters now solve the problem and the villa has large windows in all directions while minimizing energy consumption. Conventional passive houses risk, at worst, getting over 40°C indoors in the summer - with sliding shutters you get down to normal summer temperatures.

The building is constructed with heat-retaining materials that provide an even indoor temperature and without any wood in the structures. The building has a traditional concrete frame and concrete floors. The exterior wall and roof use PIR insulation - a very high-insulation product with 50% better insulation capacity than conventional insulation.

In addition to low energy use, the building will be fire and moisture resistant, and there will be no built-in materials that can mold or rot. Moreover, the building is and remains watertight even when changes are made in the future.

- We get a building with sound materials and good conditions for low energy use, then it is up to us as residents to take advantage of these conditions, says Jonny Ask, who owns and builds the villa, which is expected to be ready for occupancy for the whole family in the fall.

The pilot project is a collaborative project initiated and led by FOJAB arkitekter in cooperation with Elitfönster, Skanska Stomsystem and Byggcity. If the project is successful, the new climate-smart solutions may in the future be used primarily for villas and terraced houses, but also for multi-family houses and office buildings.

- Most of a building's environmental impact is determined at the planning and design stage. This is why it is so important that we architects are involved in driving these issues," says Sune Nilsson.

Facts about the Climate Villa
Location: Stångby, Lund municipality
Scope: Two-storey villa, 6 RoK, ca 180m².
Start of construction: April, expected to be completed in the fall
Material: Concrete and PIR insulation
Estimated energy savings: The insulated sliding shutters alone are estimated to reduce energy use by about 10-20% compared to a standard passive house.
U-value window with hatch: Approx. 0.47 W/m²K (in comparison with ordinary windows approx. 1.3 W/m²K and passive windows 0.9 W/m²K).

For more information, please contact
Sune Nilsson, architect SAR/MSA
tel: +46 (0)40-27 98 79
sune.nilsson@fojab.se

Helena Bülow-Hübe, Head of Environment and Energy
tel: +46 (0)40-27 98 90
helena.bulow-hube@fojab.se

Jonny Ask, owner and developer
tel +46 (0)730-31 50 05