Low2No carbon living: A low-to-no carbon emissions block in Helsinki. By Mark Vanderbeeken

Low2No carbon living

As part of a team made up of Arup (a global 6000 person engineering and planning firm), Sauerbruch Hutton (an acclaimed Berlin-based architecture studio) and Galley Eco Capital (green building finance specialists from San Francisco), Experientia won an international competition to develop a building block called Jätkäsaari, in the city of Helsinki, Finland, which will have low or no carbon emissions.

Based on the understanding that sustainable buildings require sustainable living practices, Experientia brings its unique perspective as an innovative experience design company to the project. While other team members concentrated on the architectural, engineering and financial strategies for the project, Experientia’s responsibility in the winning team is to address the delicate theme of how to initiate behavioural change to support a sustainable style of living in this completely new urban district.

Starting with the concept that people, their contexts, social networks, habits and beliefs are crucial tools for creating sustainable change in behaviour, Experientia is exploring ways to offer people control over their consumption and to see the effects of their actions on the environment.

Starting from 2010, and continuing over the next 6 years, the Jätkäsaari district will be designed, constructed and opened to inhabitants. From there, the sustainable ideals that govern its day-to-day life will act as a model and example for the rest of Helsinki, Finland and the world — thereby also supporting Helsinki’s commitments as 2012 World Design Capital.

www.low2no.org

Envisioning
Experientia’s competition proposal, entitled “C-LIFE, the City as a Living Factory of Ecology,” began as a vision shared by a team made up of Arup (an engineering and planning firm), Sauerbruch Hutton (architecture), Galley Eco Capital (green building finance), and Experientia.

The team created a proposal to construct a city block in the new Jätkäsaari district in Helsinki with low-to-no carbon emissions, which soon evolved into C-LIFE: a vision of a centre of innovation and experimentation for reducing energy consumption; a vibrant and participative community, with sustainable planning and architecture; and a world-leader for low-to-no carbon projects.

The proposal was the winner of the Low2No design competition that over 70 planning groups participated in. (Download our winning proposal as a PDF or from the Low2No website.)

The project is run by Sitra, the Finnish innovation agency, and is currently in the design phase.