Would low-energy housing sell in the land of McMansions?
Denmark may be the model for low energy consumption, but you could say there are still some areas of energy conservation that Danes don’t do better than Americans, at least on a square-meter basis.
Despite the strictest building codes in the world, Danish houses still use about the same amount of heating energy per square foot or square meter as American homes. The catch is the phrase “per square foot or square meter.” Because Danes live in smaller houses, they use less than half as much energy for home heating as Americans do.
Short of building a smaller house, what can Americans do to catch up?
Spending the day at a Research and Development facility for Rockwool, an insulation company known in Canada and the U.S. as Roxul Inc., shows what can be done.
The company has been around since the 1930s, and is still making insulation branded as Rockwool, or generically called mineral wool. Fiberglass has mostly replaced it in the U.S., but mineral wool is still the dominant form of insulation in Europe, with Rockwool company spokesman Thomas Nordli estimating that 70-75 percent of Danish homes use it.
Mineral wool’s insulation properties are about the same as fiberglass or polystyrene, but like most things in Denmark, it costs more. The main advantage, and the reason for the high cost, is heat resistance. Literally made from molten rock that has been spun into fibers, Rockwool can withstand temperatures of 1,000 degrees Celsius, or 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit. Naturally, the company wants a bigger share of the North American market and toured journalists and a business recruiting delegation from Michigan through its facility at Hedehusene, about 40 minutes outside Copenhagen.
The Research and Development facility is impressive, with passive solar design, thermal cooling that removes heat through the roof and draws cool air in the from the bottom, and about 20 inches of insulation in the walls. The building is so efficient, Nordi said, that cooling costs are only $100 a year, a figure which is surprisingly low even for a country as far north as Denmark.
The company wants to sell its product in other countries, and the Danish government wants to promote green energy, so the trip to Rockwool was followed by a trip to Stenløse South, a planned green development that will eventually be Europe’s largest with 750 buildings. It also makes extensive use of Rockwool products and is the winner of an award from Rockwool for its innovations.
But first impressions of Stenløse may not have the desired effect on visitors’ perceptions of low energy housing.
And while the apartment buildings at Stenløse South showcase the latest innovations in energy savings, the verdict from the five American bloggers who visited was unanimous.
They’re ugly. Very ugly.
With the growing taste for McMansions, there seems to be little chance that most Americans would accept development like this. In order for Americans to equal Danish heating use, the average house size would have to shrink by half or make drastic design choices. Recreating Stenlose in the U.S. would require both.
Our stay at Rockwool went overtime and we missed our connection with a family that lives in Stenløse, we did get a pretty good chance to walk around the development by ourselves and look.
The apartments are covered in an exterior insulating board with silvery metal decks suspended on cables. They resemble featureless, black building blocks stacked one on top of the other. Other houses nearby are somewhat more mainstream, but they are identical to each other and lined up row on row like many American suburbs. They bear no resemblance to the beautiful classic architecture in other parts of the country. Even Copenhagen’s trademark bicycle paths are inexplicably missing from Stenløse South.
But while the overall feel of Stenløse is lacking, there are good ideas there that we in America could be using. The technology is already well known in our country, it’s just not widely used. Parking spots are made of permeable paving – web-like plates set into the ground that allow water to pass through while keeping cars from sinking in. Sidewalks are of loose pavers so water can drain through the cracks. The insulating board siding, made of Rockwool of course, is tough and durable, even if the color is less than appealing in large quantities. The homes are designed with passive heating, meaning they make use of solar energy, heat emitted by household appliances and even the body heat of the people inside to stay warm.
The question is not whether the technology is sound. Insulation and passive design will reduce energy usage. Permeable paving replenishes the aquifer and keeps pollution out of streams.
The question is whether we are ready to make use of the technology. While much of the focus on energy conservation in America has been on green automobiles, cars account for less than a third of the average household’s energy consumption. Home heating is by far the biggest energy hog, taking 53 percent of the energy each of us uses, Nordi said.
U.S. Department of Energy figures show American homes alone are responsible for 9 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. Reducing that amount of energy used in the United States could account for huge reductions worldwide, and that means lower energy costs and lower carbon emissions.