19 Aug 2024
Living Places houses are now tested in real life
For the first time, people have moved into the Living Places Copenhagen houses ‘Hygge’ and ‘Haven’ as part of real-life testing of the concept.
The Living Places concept explores how to create an optimal indoor climate with the lowest possible carbon footprint using readily available products, materials, and technologies. On a conceptual basis, Living Places has been awarded a first-class indoor climate, but now the time has come to test how the houses perform with real people living in them.
The experiment marks a significant step forward that will show in practice how VELUX products and solutions harness the benefits of daylight and fresh air in homes that prioritise people alongside planet.
A variety of influential guests from around the world including building industry professionals, leading journalists, and influencers, will help paint a comprehensive picture that represents diverse geographies, genders, backgrounds, and perspectives.
Experimenting with a healthier home
The VELUX ACTIVE smart home solution, designed to automatically adjust the amount of daylight and fresh air, plays a crucial role in the houses. It will be used during Living Places Living to collect indoor climate data such as temperature, thermal comfort, and CO2. The experiment also uses building monitoring systems from our partners, Leapcraft and Climaid.
“The sensor systems will collect multiple sets of data during Living Places Living. Furthermore, we will survey the guests to learn about their thoughts and feelings on physical and functional comfort, home attachment, and overall residential satisfaction,” says engineer Nicole Di Santo, Sustainable Buildings Specialist, who is leading the data management.
A holistic view of the experience
The initial indoor climate performance of Living Places was predicted during the design stage using simulations and compared against a benchmark Danish house through the Active House Radar.
Throughout the duration of Living Places Living, VELUX is measuring the impact on occupants in several ways. The data from spatial sensors tracks temperature, relative humidity, CO2, barometric pressure, particles, light, sounds, occupancy, and some VOCs, along with feedback from guests through questionnaires and video testimonials. This will give us a holistic view of how it is to live in Living Places, offering an important set of data we can connect with valuable human insights. The learnings will be shared during the fall of 2024.
“At VELUX, we have a long history of experimenting with healthy buildings and have carried out more than 30 demonstration projects in the past 20 years, so we know a lot about how to create a good indoor climate. Now, we want to test how the Living Places Copenhagen houses perform when people are staying in the homes and we are very much looking forward to hearing what people think about their stay,” says Lone Feifer, Director of Sustainable Buildings.
Listen to expert conversations
To better understand how the Living Places concept creates an optimal indoor climate, and deep dive into the experiences of those living in the homes, we asked researchers who specialise in daylight, indoor climate, and architecture to join some of the guests for an in-depth conversation.
About the VELUX Group
For more than 80 years, the VELUX Group has created better living environments for people around the world; making the most of daylight and fresh air through the roof. Our product programme includes roof windows and modular skylights, decorative blinds, sun screening products and roller shutters, as well as installation and smart home solutions. These products help to ensure a healthy and sustainable indoor climate, for work and learning, for play and pleasure. We work globally – with sales and manufacturing operations in more than 35 countries and around 11,000 employees worldwide. The VELUX Group is owned by VKR Holding A/S, a limited company wholly owned by non-profit, charitable foundations (THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS) and family. In 2021, VKR Holding had total revenue of EUR 3.5 billion and THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS donated EUR 244 million in charitable grants.
About Living Places Copenhagen
In April 2023 the VELUX Group, EFFEKT, Artelia, and Enemærke & Petersen opened the doors to Living Places Copenhagen in the Railway District in Copenhagen. It is the first prototype of the overall Living Places concept, and the vision is to lead the way in the building industry and show how rethinking buildings can help solve some of the global climate and health challenges. The groundbreaking project demonstrates that it is possible to build homes with a CO2 footprint that is 2/3 lower per m2/year than the Danish standard while ensuring a first-class indoor climate.