University lights the way to Copenhagen

The University of Copenhagen’s green lighthouse was officially opened this week (October 20) and aims to be a flagship for sustainable building in the country.

The building, which uses some of the most cutting edge environmental-technology, will serves as a faculty lounge and meeting place.

The lighthouse uses the sun as its main source of energy and the 950 metre squared building is constructed on ‘the active-house principle’, which means that the house is producing energy.

It has its own source of energy consisting of a hitherto unseen combination of solar energy, heat pumps and district heating.

It has also been designed to make the best use of natural light with fresh air coming from the natural ventilation system.

University prorector and head of the steering committee, Lykke Friis, said: “With green lighthouse we have proven it doesn’t take rocket science but common sense to build CO2 neutral houses.

“The unique design embraces an optimum use of sunlight, an automatic ventilation system and an automatic cooling/warming system.

“With green lighthouse, we kill two birds with one stone – we unite the future CO2 neutral building with a modern environment for our students.”

Luke Walsh