Hammarby Sjöstad was declared the winner of the World Clean Energy Award 2007, in the Construction Category. The award recognizes Hammarby Sjöstad’s sustainable city concept and for serving as a role model for urban development projects all around the world
Hammarby Sjöstad is a new district on the waterfront in the center of Stockholm, Sweden. The district will offer 10,000 apartments for 25,000 residents. From day one, the City of Stockholm has imposed tough environmental requirements on buildings, infrastructural solutions and the traffic environment. Overall goals include reducing Hammarby Sjöstad’s total impact on the environment by half when compared to any similar, conventionally developed new city district. Additionally, all waste and waste water coming from the inhabitants will be recycled and returned to the area in the form of renewable energy. To obtain these goals, integrated planning, innovative solutions and new technologies have been necessary. The project runs until 2015, and today half of the city area is complete. The Project Management Office, which has run the project from the beginning, has been responsible for meeting environmental requirements.
GlashusEtt, the environmental information centre of Hammarby Sjöstad, provides lectures on sustainable city planning and encourages inhabitants to live more sustainably.
The water has inspired the name of the entire project – the town around the lake Hammarby Sjö. The first drawings of what would become Hammarby Sjöstad were pencilled in back in 1990. The idea was to showcase a unique opportunity – expanding the inner city with a focus on the water, while converting an old industrial and harbour area into a modern neighbourhood.
Hammarby Sjöstad is Stockholm’s biggest urban development project for many years. The area’s location as a natural continuation of Stockholm’s inner city has helped shape the infrastructure, planning and design of the buildings. This expansion has involved extensive reconstructions of the infrastructure, with traffic barriers removed and the old industrial and terminal areas phased out, concentrated or given a new purpose.
The areas around Sickla Udde, Sickla Kaj and Sickla Kanal are now fully developed. The next phases involve Hammarby Gård (1,000 apartments), Redaren and Sjöfarten (500 apartments), Lugnet (650 apartments), Henriksdalshamnen (850 apartments) and Sjöstadsporten (260 apartments with 15 000 m2 office space and 15 250 m2 hotel space).
All of these areas offer a range of zoning types. The expansion of Hammarby Sjöstad coincides with the development of the area’s municipal and commercial services, and with increased investment in public transport.
Right from the start, the city has imposed strict environmental requirements on buildings, technical installations and the traffic environment. The goal of the entire environmental programme is to halve the total environmental impact in comparison with an area built in the early 1990s. Another way of putting it is that the buildings in Hammarby Sjöstad will be twice as eco-friendly as a normal building. The architecture is modern, with the focus on sustainable materials such as glass, wood, steel and stone, and the ground was thoroughly decontaminated before building work began.
Adapting the area to an environmentally friendly one has also entailed a heavy investment in green public spaces, with maintenance plans for the oak forest, a reed park with wooden jetties, a broad avenue, and several large parks. Attractive forms of public transport are also offered, such as light rail link, boat traffic and access to a carpool.
Conserving nature and creating new green public spaces
An avenue linking the city district’s new green public spaces and forming green corridors runs all the way through the southern part of Hammarby Sjöstad. The parks to the south of Hammarby Sjö are all linked to the major green public spaces of the Nacka nature reserve and Årsta forest, and form green wedges into the heart of Hammarby Sjöstad. The Nacka nature reserve is linked to the town area by means of ecoducts – planted viaducts – over the Södra Länken highway. New parks in northern Hammarby Sjöstad have been linked up with the Vitaberg park and the Stora Blecktorn park.
The natural environment along the shores of Sickla Udde has been recreated using new trees and reed beds. The oak forest on Sickla Udde has been thinned and the living oaks and dead trees that have been left in place together form attractive environments for many species of insect and bird. The parks are intended to be attractive environments and serve as footpaths for people, but are also intended to serve as dispersal corridors and living environments for animals and plants.
Eco-inspections and organically sustainable materials
Environmental consideration is the key for all of the materials used. This applies both to the visible materials used in the facades and on the ground as well as to the materials used in the internal parts of the buildings – their shells, installations and equipment. The guiding principle throughout has been to use tried and tested, sustainable materials and ecocertified products, and to avoid any use of chemical products or construction materials that contain hazardous substances.
Rainwater must not be contaminated with metals or oils en route to Hammarby Sjö, which is why facade or roofing materials that could release heavy metals or other hazardous substances have been avoided, and why eco-friendly oil has been used for the footpaths along Sickla Canal and stainless steel has been used for the cycle bridge.
Everyone who builds in Hammarby Sjöstad must check and declare their chemical products and construction materials before work on their project begins, and eco-inspections are conducted regularly throughout the construction process.
The Health City
One of the goals of Hammarby Sjöstad is for the district to be a healthy place for people to live, a place that stimulates the body and soul, and hence a place that offers opportunities for exercise, sports and culture.
Sjöstaden has a number of exercise and sports facilities, such as Hammarbybacken, a slalom ski slope with amazing views. The sports facility at Hammarbyhöjden, near the southern side of Hammarbybacken is an important asset, not least for school and youth sports activities. The foot of the slope is also home to the valuable Nacka nature reserve. A sports hall with a large exercise facility has been built in Sjöstaden, and this positive feature is echoed in the annual Sjöstad Games held on Sweden’s National Day under the administration of Hammarby IF sports association.
Sjöstaden has numerous footpaths and cycle paths alongside the canals, as well as many attractive paths for strolling through a variety of green public spaces in the district. There are also cycle paths along Sjöstaden’s main through-road.
A variety of different types of cultural activity are also important in terms of overall health. Cultural outlets in Hammarby Sjöstad include not only the Fryshuset social and cultural centre, but Kulturama, which offers tuition in a wide range of Arts for students of all ages, along with a library, not forgetting the cultural centre that will be opening soon.
Integrated planning with an eco-focus
The real key to the district’s success is the integrated planning work that was carried out before the area was developed. All of the various authorities and administrations that normally get involved in the various stages of the process sat down and drew up the plan for the new conceptual approach that would result in Hammarby Sjöstad. The integrated planning work carried out from the start was – and still is – unique. And the results were – and will continue to be – visible in Hammarby Sjöstad. The goal was to create a residential environment based on sustainable resource usage, where energy consumption and waste production are minimised, and resource saving and recycling are simultaneously maximised.
Sjöstaden is home to exciting new technical solutions for energy supply and energy usage, a pilot sewage treatment plant facility where new technology will be tested, and a practical automated waste disposal system for waste management.
One tried and tested example of integration solutions comes in the form of the heat extracted from the treated wastewater, which is used to produce district heating and, from the waste product of this process, district cooling.
The Hammarby model – a unique eco-cycle
The integrated environmental solutions can be followed through an eco-cycle that has become known as the Hammarby model. The eco-cycle handles energy, waste, water and sewage for housing, offices and other commercial activities in Hammarby Sjöstad. The eco-cycle is also designed to act as a role model for the development of equivalent technological systems in big cities.
The model has been developed by Fortum, Stockholm Water Company and the Stockholm Waste Managemant Administration. This model shows how sewage processing and energy provision interact, how refuse is handled and the added-values society gains from modern sewage and waste processing systems.
ENERGY
Sustainable and renewable energy
The City of Stockholm has always been well ahead of its time when it comes to finding new and renewable energy sources to make the city a better place to live in. For several decades now, Stockholm has been shifting over to using district heating to heat buildings.
In Hammarby Sjöstad, we have brought things one step further through the installation of various kinds of energy supply. New technology is being used as part of exciting development projects in Hammarby Sjöstad, e.g. as fuel cells, solar cells, and solar panels. The purpose is partly to test the new technology and partly to demonstrate methods of building a sustainable city.
When the construction work on Hammarby Sjöstad is completed, the area’s residents will produce half of all the energy they need. They will do this by utilising the energy present in treated wastewater and the energy to be found in the sorted-at-source combustible waste.
Eco-friendly energy, district heating and district cooling
District heating
The Högdalen combined heat and power plant uses sorted, combustible waste as an energy source (fuel) to produce electricity and district heating. Renewable energy sources are used wherever possible in order to spare the environment. Another example of sustainable heat supply is the Hammarby heat plant which extracts waste heat from the treated wastewater from the Henriksdal wastewater treatment plant.
District cooling
Stockholm’s focus on centralised production of district heating and district cooling makes the city a world leader in this field. District cooling in Stockholm has developed over a decade into the world’s largest system of its kind! From the cooled and treated wastewater that leaves the Hammarby plant’s heat pumps, heat is exchanged into cooling in the water that circulates in the district cooling network in Hammarby Sjöstad. Cooling is, in other words, purely and simply a waste product from the production of district heating.
The sun provides energy and heats water
A variety of different kinds of energy supply are being tried out in Sjöstaden. Hammarby Sjöstad has several solar cell installations which capture the energy of the sun’s light and convert into electrical power. Solar cells have been installed on several facades and roofs in Sjöstaden. The more effective the solar cells and the bigger the area they cover, the more effective the installation is. To date, solar cells have mainly taken the form of test projects from an energy viewpoint in urban environments. Two of the buildings on Sickla Kanalgata, for example, have been fitted with solar cells that are contributing to the buildings’ energy supply by providing the energy needed for their public areas. Solar panels have also been fitted to the roof of one of Sjöstaden’s larger apartment blocks.
Solar cells
Solar cells capture the sun’s luminous energy and convert it into electrical power in solar cells. The energy from a 1 m² solar cell module provides approximately 100 kWh/year, which corresponds to the domestic electricity requirement for 3 m² residential floor space.
Solar panels
390m² of south-facing solar panels have been installed on the roof of the Viken block. These panels capture the warm rays of the sun and use them to heat the buildings hot water supply. The solar panels shown in the picture below produce half of the energy required to meet the building’s annual hot water requirement.
Less water and cleaner sewage
One of Hammarby Sjöstad’s goals is to reduce water consumption by 50%. 200 litres/ person/day is normally used in Stockholm, but our aim is to reduce this figure to 100 litres/ person/day. Thanks to eco-friendly installations (energy class A: washing machines and dishwashers, low flush toilets and air mixer taps), consumption levels are currently approximately 150 litres/person/day.
It is even more important to reduce the amount of heavy metals and non biodegradable chemicals present in wastewater, because this will result in fewer contaminants being dispersed into the Stockholm archipelago via our treated wastewater, and will also give us a better residual product, known as sludge, which can be reused on agricultural land. The strategy to systematically work with your customers and society to reduce the amount of chemicals flushed into the wastewater system is called the Upstream approach. The Uppstream approach is now endorsed by many wastewater companies throughout Europe as being part of their core business.
By monitoring the wastewater, we can see whether campaigns in this area have any effect on the quality of the wastewater. In the spring of 2005, for example, a campaign to reduce the use of the bactericide Triclosan was conducted. Triclosan is an environmentally hazardous substance present in certain toothpastes and which there is no need whatsoever for ordinary consumers to use. Analyses of the wastewater before and after the campaign show that the amounts of Triclosan present had fallen.
Sjöstadsverket – wastewater treatment plant, evaluating new technology
Cutting edge technology evaluated in different processes
A new test wastewater treatment plant, Sjöstadsverket, has been built to evaluate new technology in the field of wastewater treatment. The first stage of Sjöstadsverket has four separate treatment lines for wastewater from the equivalent of 600 people in Hammarby Sjöstad. The various lines are being evaluated and a basis for decision-making for stage two – which may possibly see a water treatment plant built for the whole of Hammarby Sjöstad – will also be generated. The treatment lines under evaluation contain chemical, physical and biological processes that are run as efficiently as possible. The goal is both to treat the wastewater and to recycle resources from the wastewater with as little input of external resources, such as electrical energy and chemicals, as possible.
Cleaner biosolids and nutrient recycling
The buildings and infrastructure in Hammarby Sjöstad have been planned and built with great care when it comes to the choice of construction and building materials, and the processing of wastewater and refuse, for example. By avoiding the use of certain metals and plastics in the buildings, by ensuring that rainwater and snowmelt are treated and drained separately, and by providing residents with information, e.g. the importance of eco-labelled household chemicals (find out more on page 30), we can ensure that households’ wastewater is relatively clean.
The wastewater that goes to the local wastewater treatment plant comes solely from housing in the area, and does not come from storm water and industries. This means that right from the start, the wastewater contains a minimum of contaminants, which makes it easier for us to treat it and for the nutrients it contains to be reclaimed and, hopefully, be reusable on agricultural land.
The environmental goal is for 95 % of the phosphorus to be separated out and recycled for agricultural use, and for the level of heavy metals and other hazardous substances to be reduced by 50 %. The treated sewage has to meet exceptionally high standards.
Biogas is extracted from the digestion of sewage sludge
At the wastewater treatment plant, organic material is separated out from the wastewater in the form of sludge. The sludge is carried to large digestion tanks, where it is digested. Biogas, which is the most environmentally friendly form of fuel currently available, is produced during the digestion process. The biogas produced is primarily used as vehicle fuel, e.g. in inner city buses, garbage trucks and taxis. Biogas is also used in approximately 1,000 gas stoves in Hammarby Sjöstad.
Biosolids can be used as an efficient fertiliser
Once the digestion process is completed, the sludge – the biosolid – can be used as a fertiliser. The biosolid is nutritionally rich with a high phosphorus content, and is ideally suited for use as a fertiliser. It can be used on agricultural land and in the production of soil conditioners. Stockholm Water sends biosolids to northern Sweden, where they are used as filling material in mines that have been closed down.
Waste and recycling material
These days waste is no longer just waste. It is a resource that is being utilised more and more. New things are being produced from recycled materials, allowing us to be more economical with nature’s resources. A lot of things improve when everyone separates their waste, and if the waste is to be handled properly, everyone must do their bit.
When you separate waste, you help ensure that hazardous substances are not incinerated along with the rest of the refuse bags. Extraction of virgin raw materials is reduced, when the recycled materials can be used instead. This makes waste into a resource that can be used for materials recycling and energy recovery. Quantities of domestic waste are reduced, and the refuse collection personnel’s working environment improves.
Waste is separated at source and recycled or used to produce heating and electricity
Three-level waste management
In Hammarby Sjöstad, there are three different levels of waste management: building-based, block-based, and area-based:
Building-based separating at source
The heaviest and bulkiest waste is separated into fractions and deposited in different refuse chutes in or adjacent to the buildings.
• Combustible waste: Things made of plastic, paper and other forms of non-packaging are placed in ordinary plastic bags.
• Food waste: Food product waste is placed in bags made of corn starch which, unlike plastic bags, are biodegradable.
• Newspapers, catalogues, paper, etc: Left loose, not packed. Not for the mobile automated waste disposal system.
Block-based recycling rooms
The types of waste that do not belong in the building-based refuse chutes can be left in block-based recycling rooms:
• Glass, paper, plastic and metal packaging.
• Bulky waste, i.e. old furniture.
• Electrical and electronic waste. Items that require an electric socket or batteries to function, as well as light bulbs, fluorescent tubes and low-energy light bulbs.
• Some of the recycling rooms also have containers for textiles.
Area-based hazardous waste collection point
Waste that constitutes a danger to people and the environment, such as paint, varnish and glue residues, nail polish, solvents or cleaning agents, batteries and chemicals must never be placed in domestic waste or poured down the drain. It must be separated out and handed in at the hazardous waste collection point in GlashusEtt, the area’s environmental information centre.
Hammarby Sjöstad is a role model for city planners who are looking to develop a sustainable city, especially in the Middle East. There is a lot to learn and understand from Hammarby Sjöstad; the knowledge, experience and expertise they have acquired through this wonderful project is an invaluable lesson in building the next sustainable city.
