WSP helped to conceive the brief for the Royal Seaport and set the ambitious targets that give the project its world-leading sustainability credentials. Total carbon dioxide emissions per person per year will be much, much lower than the current average in Stockholm – less than 1.5 tonnes compared with 3.4 tonnes. To achieve this, WSP has combined the best current thinking on energy efficiency with technological innovation and new approaches to handling energy demand across a district. Buildings will use the most energy-efficient materials, and draw on low-energy designs from Germany and Austria, to reach a new low in energy use of just half of building code requirements.
Much attention has been paid to the transport strategy for the site, and to providing open spaces and landscaping. Residents’ living room windows will overlook great expanses of natural parkland and water, while being only a ten-minute bicycle ride from the city centre. The intention is for the Royal Seaport to be fossil-fuel free by 2030. One third of its energy – 55Wh/m² per year – will be generated from renewable sources on site, with the rest drawn from the city’s biofuel-powered district heating and cooling system, a key advantage for developers in Stockholm when it comes to energy performance targets. WSP is also looking into integrating other technologies such as generating biogas from organic waste, and using stormwater for cooling on hot summer days.
