Green Solution House
Denmark, 2015
“At Green Solution house we like being on the verge between technology and nature.” (27)
The Location
The Green Solution House was built in Rønne on the Danish island of Bornholm.
The Client
The Green Solution House was built by the architectural practice 3XN’s innovative unit GXN for Hotel Ryttergården and was completed in 2015. (27)
The Story
It was built as a hotel and conference centre. The design was inspired by the “Cradle to Cradle life cycle concept” and was based on the “criteria of the Active House vision”. (27) Its sustainable design aimed to attract more tourism to the small island (28) and as the practice states on their website (27) they aimed to, explore circular sustainability. We wanted the best building possible for the times, one that would contribute to the health of both people and nature. Achieving this meant exploring innovative systems and materials plus developing strategies for how to live up to our ambitions.
The design also intended to tackle the fact that the construction industry accounts for 30% of all waste which harms the environment. (28) By sourcing local materials, upcycling glass and other materials for furniture, using solar energy, using permeable pavement for the carparks, cleaning wastewater with algae, growing its own food, monitoring indoor conditions by use of technology, integrating nature into the building and more (27) the building demonstrates that it is a problem that can be solved with creativity and by integrating science and design. (28)
The Architect
The practice 3XN was founded in 1986 by architects Kim Herforth Nielsen, Lars Frank Nielsen and Hans Peter Svendler Nielsen. (29) As stated on their website (29), their innovative unit was set up in 2007 to apply latest technologies and knowledge of materials on architecture “GXN remains dedicated to ecological and behaviour centric design research and constantly advance new digital processes and material solutions to create innovative architecture that positively affects people and the world we live in.”
As the hotel and conference centre wants to provide a healthy indoor environment for all visitors and users it means that GXN made sure that “they can benefit from the high levels of daylight, temperature ranges and fresh air”. (26) Due to daylighting being well known for its health factor and how it directly influences the experience of its occupants 3XN made sure that it was a prominent aspect in the overall design of the building noting that “Adequate lighting and especially well-designed daylight penetration provide an array of health benefits to people in buildings. High levels of daylight and an optimized view out positively influence people’s mood and well-being.” (27)
The Location and Daylighting
Bornholm is known as the ‘sunshine’ island.(30) It gets the most amount of sunshine in all of Denmark and it is loved by the Danes because of it. (31) According to the World Climate Guide (32) Rønne receives an average of 1800 sunshine hours a year (figures may be slightly inaccurate). Because of its suburban surroundings and its location in the biggest town of Bornholm the Green Solution House receives much diffuse northern sunlight and plays with sunlight from the south, east and west. Bornholm however also suffers from the northern hemisphere weather and experiences overcast skies throughout the year, especially from October to April when the sky is cloudy or overcast for 70% of the time. (33)
Bornholm is known as the ‘sunshine’ island.(30) It gets the most amount of sunshine in all of Denmark and it is loved by the Danes because of it. (31) According to the World Climate Guide (32) Rønne receives an average of 1800 sunshine hours a year (figures may be slightly inaccurate). Because of its suburban surroundings and its location in the biggest town of Bornholm the Green Solution House receives much diffuse northern sunlight and plays with sunlight from the south, east and west. Bornholm however also suffers from the northern hemisphere weather and experiences overcast skies throughout the year, especially from October to April when the sky is cloudy or overcast for 70% of the time. (33)
The Critique
The Green Solution House was carefully designed with the distant future of the building in mind. The architects and the design team evidently wanted the building to be designed in such a way that it would be able to provide the maximum amount of light that it can provide in most weather conditions.
To begin with, the hotel and conference centre is a renovation of the previous Hotel Ryttergården. With sun tunnels, large glass facades and other roof windows installed, the Green Solution House grabs at every opportunity to use daylight no matter its orientation. The building manages to keep its costs low by inclusion of photovoltaic cells and regulates the heat from solar gain through its skylights which are “equipped with an innovative control system programmed to automatically open windows for ventilation and adjust sun screening for thermal comfort and energy balance.” (26) The building also keeps a record of the consumption of energy, light, water, performance and air in both its smart rooms and at the reception (27) to make occupants aware of their energy consumption and how they can conserve or alternatively change it. 3XN believes that, “communicating consumption and environmental conditions helps inform behavior by increasing awareness.”(27)
Perhaps you can say that the act of introducing the feature to check the status of a room acts as a ‘switch’ or a ‘sensor’ for occupants by encouraging them to be conscious of their energy consumption levels. With the introduction of these daylighting methods and sustainable methods to deal with heat gain its no doubt that the Green Solution House lives by its name. (28)
You could argue that the building has no true orientation in that the orientation depends on your intended use for the building. With that, most of the building’s daylight comes from the north. However the building is flexible and has the ability to change its rooms to cater for the need of those that use the building which makes its design much more sustainable. The building succeeds in surpassing the LEED criterion of ‘an average of 2% DF’ throughout the space (9,10) by having a Daylight Factor of about 10% in the common spaces, 6.6% in the conference rooms, 3% in the smart hotel rooms and 1.9% in corridors. (26) This is a shocking upgrade from the Wren Library in Cambridge. The design team was thoughtful when deciding where to place skylights and large facades.
The building manages to easily disperse the sunlight it receives through a combination of matt and glossy surfaces as well as white walls to allow uniform light to bounce into every shaded corner. Introducing solar balconies in hotel rooms while renovating the previous hotel allows light to penetrate farther into the room while also generating 5000kWh of energy per year used. (34) For places that were harder to reach such as bathrooms, sun tunnels were an effective solution. It is safe to assume that glare, especially during summer months when sunshine is at its peak, is controlled by roller blinds that are installed with the Velux skylights that the building uses (26) as well as overhangs that can bounce any directional beams away.
Overall, the Green Solution House makes visitors really feel like they are on the Sunshine Island. Even with an overcast sky the bright interior gives enough illusion and illumination to make the interior brighter than it may seem. Out of all three projects it would rate 5/5 stars.
References
26. Slipek M. DAYLIGHT IN GREEN SOLUTION HOUSE - The Daylight Site | Daylighting research, architecture, practice and education The Daylight Site. Velux [Internet]. 2020 May 4 [cited 2020 Oct 23]; Available from: http://thedaylightsite.com/daylight-in-green-solution-house/
27. GXN. Green Solution House [Internet]. 3XN. [cited 2020 Oct 25]. Available from: https://gxn.3xn.com/project/green-solution-house
28. Furuto A. Green Solution House / 3XN [Internet]. ArchDaily. 2012 [cited 2020 Oct 25]. Available from: https://www.archdaily.com/199658/green-solution-house-3xn
29. 3xn history [Internet]. 3XN Architects. [cited 2020 Oct 25]. Available from: https://3xn.com/content/history/
30. Molgaard M. EU’s most sustainable islands are Danish “Sunshine Islands.” Euobserver [Internet]. 2020 Aug 7 [cited 2020 Oct 25]; Available from: https://euobserver.com/environment/149093
31. Holland M. A Guide to Bornholm: Denmark’s Sunny Island Escape | Vogue. Vogue [Internet]. 2017 Sep 7 [cited 2020 Oct 25]; Available from: https://www.vogue.com/article/bornholm-denmark-island-travel-guide
32. World Climate Guide. Rønne climate [Internet]. Climates To Travel. [cited 2020 Oct 25]. Available from: https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/denmark/rønne
33. Average Weather at Bornholm Rønne Airport, Denmark [Internet]. Weather Spark. [cited 2020 Oct 25]. Available from: https://weatherspark.com/y/148324/Average-Weather-at-Bornholm-Rønne-Airport-Denmark-Year-Round
34. Emil K. Green Solution House [Internet]. Active House. [cited 2020 Oct 25]. Available from: https://www.activehouse.info/cases/green-solution-house/
27. GXN. Green Solution House [Internet]. 3XN. [cited 2020 Oct 25]. Available from: https://gxn.3xn.com/project/green-solution-house
28. Furuto A. Green Solution House / 3XN [Internet]. ArchDaily. 2012 [cited 2020 Oct 25]. Available from: https://www.archdaily.com/199658/green-solution-house-3xn
29. 3xn history [Internet]. 3XN Architects. [cited 2020 Oct 25]. Available from: https://3xn.com/content/history/
30. Molgaard M. EU’s most sustainable islands are Danish “Sunshine Islands.” Euobserver [Internet]. 2020 Aug 7 [cited 2020 Oct 25]; Available from: https://euobserver.com/environment/149093
31. Holland M. A Guide to Bornholm: Denmark’s Sunny Island Escape | Vogue. Vogue [Internet]. 2017 Sep 7 [cited 2020 Oct 25]; Available from: https://www.vogue.com/article/bornholm-denmark-island-travel-guide
32. World Climate Guide. Rønne climate [Internet]. Climates To Travel. [cited 2020 Oct 25]. Available from: https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/denmark/rønne
33. Average Weather at Bornholm Rønne Airport, Denmark [Internet]. Weather Spark. [cited 2020 Oct 25]. Available from: https://weatherspark.com/y/148324/Average-Weather-at-Bornholm-Rønne-Airport-Denmark-Year-Round
34. Emil K. Green Solution House [Internet]. Active House. [cited 2020 Oct 25]. Available from: https://www.activehouse.info/cases/green-solution-house/
