Recently I travelled to Malmö on a very interesting mission. As a guest of E.ON, I visited Sweden’s third largest city, which is undergoing a transition from an industrial city to an “ekostaden” (eco-city). Several districts have already been transformed using innovative design to create attractive buildings with low energy consumption in mind and they are planning to become more socially and environmentally responsive.
Changes are taking place at a phenomenal rate. In the Western Harbour district, energy is produced in a variety of ways: wind energy from wind turbines; solar energy is dealt with from installations on the buildings, solar panels provide the heat and solar cells produce the electricity; and biogas produced from household waste. The summer heat is stored in an aquifer system; a natural reservoir situated in the bedrock and then pumped up into the heating system during the winter. During the summer, the cold stored during the winter months is then used to cool buildings.
Architects have not just thought about the inside of buildings, but the area has also been adapted for cycling and pedestrian purposes. The public transport options are excellent and the buses are fuelled with natural gas and biogas. Everything is done to minimise the dependency on cars.
Local schools have installed solar cells which not only produce electricity used in the buildings, but also serve to screen the buildings from the sun to avoid classrooms getting too hot. Importantly, they also play an educational role and pupils are constantly reminded about the issues concerning energy. What I was particularly impressed with is that schools are not just promoting sustainable lifestyles, but healthier lifestyles too and there are plenty of physical activities for the children.
A lot of effort is going into providing information about renewable technologies for the local population and as well as an exhibition at the Technical Museum, an educational centre is being built that is entirely dedicated to renewable energies.
Malmö is a such a youthful city, it is great to see how it is growing in knowledge, competence and strong environmental awareness and making impressive strides towards helping their residents lead healthier, greener lives.
