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- 1. [30] sustain’ MAR/APR 2013 sustain’ MAR/APR 2013 [31]
What city is not faced with one or many of the
following problems: of improving its transport
system and the mobility of its citizens; of building
a smart energy system that is low carbon and
resilient to future energy supplies, of designing
water, sewerage and flood-defence systems?
All of this needs to be done whilst keeping
a city functioning, maintaining its ability to
attract investment, people and resources – and
continuing to be competitive against both local and
international cities.
Attracting investment and ensuring there is the
capacity with the right skills within the supply chain
are part of a list of challenges that are familiar to
many of us working in the built environment.
Key though to all this is having an understanding
of the inter-dependencies within city infrastructure.
In general, many cities are struggling to map this. If
this can be understood the problem of transforming
existing cities or designing new cities turns into
more of an opportunity to create co-benefits. In this
article we will attempt to explain this, focussing on
the provision of smart energy systems and sharing
some of the latest thinking being applied to the
development of “low-carbon cities” in Sweden.
Demand for energy in cities
As urban populations increase and become more
prosperous, the demand for energy in cities,
in particular for electrical power and heat, is
increasing. Add into the mix the social inequality
that exists in cities, especially temperate cities,
that leaves some of the population unable to pay
for vital heating during cold months, and you can
see why future energy demand and provision is
on the radar of many city mayors and managers.
Despite Sweden’s comparative riches, both natural
resources and wealth, these issues occupy the
minds of its city managers.
Cities have the potential to take the lead in
transforming the way we generate, manage and
use energy and, indeed, many are already using
sustainable energy systems. Scandinavian cities
have been using district heating systems and
combined heat and power generation for both
industrial and residential use for many years.
Depending on geographic location, wind, tidal and
solar power are increasingly important sources of
renewable energy for cities, while geothermal power
is exploited in some regions to provide reliable,
secure, low-cost power.
So if secure, sustainable and affordable renewable
energy supplies are crucial to the future success of
cities how best should a city make the transition to
a low-carbon, energy-efficient city? The examples
cited in this article are part of a growing trend of
Swedish cities that are redesigning their cities
with energy-efficiency and low-carbon goals and
targets, for example in the cities of Eskilstuna,
Lindingo, Stigtuna and Umeå. With these cities and
others, WSP has first-hand experience with direct
involvement right from the start of Sweden’s drive
for the sustainable development of its cities.
Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm
In recent times, the Swedish approach to more
sustainable cities started in the district of
Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm in the late 1980s
and early 1990s when city officials were thinking
about how best to regenerate land that had
previously been earmarked to host the Olympic
Games. The bid was lost but the challenge of what to
do with the land remained.
Broadly speaking, the over-arching objective
was to “be twice as good as current building
performance”. So double performance in transport,
energy, recycling provision, water management,
provision of amenity and green space and ICT.
The mainly residential development has been
completed and it has become a Mecca for many
wanting to learn about sustainable European
eco-districts. It is fair to say almost all goals
were achieved. The exception was the energy goal
which was not totally achieved, mainly because
the deployment of the new technology took more
time for market penetration and adoption. In
hindsight this was partly due to the need for more
awareness about the availability and practicality
of using technology, such as new building
control systems and components such as high-
performance windows, and a smoother process
for stakeholder involvement.
Brunnshög district, Lund
Lund’s new district Brunnshög will be the home
to 10,000 residents and a commercial area that
supports 15,000 workers. Lunds Energikoncernen,
the local energy company, is designing a sustainable
energy system for the area. The city’s energy
goal is that the district should be a net exporter
of renewable energy to adjacent districts by
generating 150% of its own energy needs, and
Lunds Energikoncernen is providing the sustainable
energy solutions which are necessary to achieve this
ambitious goal. To analyse how to best achieve the
goal we looked at various different energy scenarios,
assessed the feasibility of different energy supplies
(among them waste heat from the new science
centres European Spallation Source and MAX IV
laboratory), and the deployment of smart grids to
reduce demand of electricity.
The first phase is due for completion by the end
of 2013, and the whole development is expected to
finish in 2030.
H+ district, Helsingborg
H+ is a district of Helsingborg which will have
10,000 residents and where local businesses will
employ just under 12,000 people. Öresundskraft,
Sweden’s fifth largest energy company, which for
more than 100 years has supplied the region with
light, power and heat, is attempting to create a
sustainable energy system for the H+ district. The
services it provides today include district heating,
district cooling, natural gas and communication. The
goals of the proposed H+ system are to be energy
positive (here meaning to produce more energy
within a boundary – in this case the city will take
advantage of existing energy infrastructure – than is
consumed), using a primary energy perspective, and
to simultaneously be cost neutral and demonstrate
best available practice. The challenge here is
meeting all these goals at the same time, as being
cost neutral when implementing best available
practice, or being energy positive.
Common themes but
different approaches
Common to all the examples is that the cities and
the districts have set their own goals for energy
and carbon reductions, although they describe their
aims in very different terms, for example, ‘emit
less than 1.5 tonnes of carbon per capita’, ‘become
energy positive’, ‘produce 150% of energy needs’.
The national and EU policies and targets for energy
and carbon reductions have been useful, but the
cities have decided their own, more ambitious,
goals. The process for setting these goals has been
inclusive, involving and engaging with a variety of
key stakeholders in their delivery. For example with
residents whose behaviours will need to change if
demand-side actions are to be successful.
But there are differences in approach. Both in
Brunsshög and in H+ district it is the utilities that
are driving the city to develop and support energy-
efficiency and renewable-energy strategies, whereas
in Stockholm it was the city officials. This can partly
be explained by Stockholm being serviced by a
private utility company, whereas in the other cities
mentioned the utilities are municipality owned. The
municipal-owned utilities can see the opportunity to
be profitable in renewable energy whilst delivering a
public benefit. For them it makes for better business
to develop new business models, for example
direct contracts with residents to guarantee indoor
air comfort (a certain air temperature, and having
political support with a vision and targets helps).
Funding for the activities recommended in the
strategy varies. Energy-demand actions in new
houses requires investments by the developers,
here whole lifecycle costing and a willingness to pay
by the new house owner are important. Investments
in energy production, distribution and smart grids
are paid for mainly by the energy companies. As
investments can be expensive it is in their interest
to keep investments down, hence action on demand
reduction are realised first, and are the first part of
our critical pathway.
Key lessons learnt
From our experience of involvement in the above
and many more cities in Sweden, we have drawn
up seven key lessons. These might appear to be
common sense and somewhat intuitive. There is
nothing ground breaking or particularly staggering.
But that in itself is worthy of note, the overarching
lesson being that effort is required to make things
happen. If you make the effort it is achievable.
1. Integrated services are necessary for sustainable
development. If services are designed in isolation
co-benefits are missed;
2. Involving important stakeholders as early as
possible is key, as is establishing area-specific
agreements, like carbon reductions, as
engagement drives ownership, and that
galvanizes efforts;
3. Build on existing knowledge, check what other
cities have done before getting started;
4. An early analysis of potential conflicts of interest
can help avoid a lot of problems. This includes
understanding the governance of the city – who,
in most cases, controls street lighting, sewage,
power generation;
5. Sustainability certification schemes can help
organise the work efficiently. BREEAM
Communities is currently being adapted to work
in a Swedish context (see pages 34-35 this issue),
and where applied it is helping provide a
framework before design and construction begins;
6. A sustainability coordinator makes a huge
difference. Somebody who can keep track of
all the different packages of work and make
sure actions are done in the right order to
deliver the maximum benefits in the most
affordable way, so achieving integrated services;
7. Finally, and relating to need for good coordination
and cooperation. The journey of delivering
sustainable development is likened to a relay
race, efficient handovers between phases
are crucial hence the need for coordination. And
cooperation is important as everybody pays for the
transition. So there is a need to help each other to
make it most cost effective! This helps narrow the
gap between what works in business and what is
required for society.
For more information: www.wspgroup.com/
futurecities
DrPaulToyne will be talking about low-carbon
communities in Sweden during the ‘Delivering
Sustainability in the City’ seminars at Ecobuild 2013
on Tuesday 5 March. www.ecobuild.co.uk/seminars/
Sweden’s future
cities: energy efficient
and low carbon
Authors: Dr Paul Toyne, Global Sustainability
Director and Director WSP Designing Future
Cities and Agneta Persson, Director WSP
Designing Future Cities, WSP Sweden.
H+ © Schönherr Landscape/ ADEPT Architects
Brunnshög district, Lund
Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm