Finland shows off its first near zero-energy office to Milan

Finland’s first near-zero energy office building, Viikin Ympäristötalo (the Viikki Environment House) attracted attention at the near-zero energy construction seminar in Milan, organised in connection with the Expocomfort exhibition.

The building is a perfect example of the potential of near-zero energy building in a cold environment, and comparisons were made with the Elithis Tower in Dijon, France.

Climate plays an important role in the design of buildings. For example, while relatively small windows are favoured in Finland to save on heating costs, large windows are preferred in Paris to let daylight in.

Among a host of other things, Danish guidelines for the transfer to near-zero energy buildings were introduced at the seminar. Denmark is the first country to announce energy efficiency requirements for 2020.