The demo is located in Østerås, Bærum, in a rural setting 11 km from Oslo City Centre. The climate can be classified as subarctic, but due to proximity to coast, the winters are not extremely cold, and summer temperatures are fair. The mean temperature in January is -3 °C and in July it is 18 °C. There is about 2400 sun hours during a year, and precipitation is about 700 mm per year (snow in the winter and rain in summer).
The building is part of the ‘Assisted living and welfare technology’ programme. Bærum municipality financed the construction, but users can buy or rent their apartments. There are 12 units with one occupant per unit. The building is managed round-the-clock by onsite staff, 3 during the nighttime and about 12 during daytime.
This demo is characterised by a solid wood structure built in a zero-emission construction site. The building is classified as BREEAM Excellent, the worldwide leading assessment method for sustainability of buildings. The building has 3 geo-thermal wells as energy source and a 20 kW heat-pump. The heat-pump works in combination with an electric boiler which provides hot water and water-based floor heating. There are photovoltaic panels (23 kWp) and battery for storage of energy. Balanced ventilation with heat recovery supplies each apartment and common area with preheated fresh air. Automatic window screens prevent overheating.
