Captain Climate

Environmental hero with a focus on the limitation of climate impact

SFV´s climate goals

The National Property board Sweden (SFV) continuously works with improving the operation of our properties. Together, everyone at SFV, property managers, operation technicians, project managers, administrative personnel and specialists, help to fulfil our goals:

• Reduced energy use in SFV´s buildings
• Reduced in-house produced heating based on fossil fuels
• Energy-audited buildings

Sustainable systems last longer

SFV constantly works to reduce energy consumption where possible and to utilise renewable energy sources. Oil burners are replaced with environmentally-friendly alternatives. If connection to district heating is not possible, the installation of in-house heating units for biofuels, pellets or chips can be a solution. Another alternative may be utilising heat in water and air with heat pumps.

We have an electricity agreement that guarantees that the electricity that we obtain is produced by water power. SFV also strives to ensure that wind power is able to be produced on land it owns and manages.

Everyone who contributes to making this possible is an environmental hero. Some examples of efforts that have been carried out are presented below.

Biofuel heats the Drottningholm Palace area, Stockholm, Sweden

Drottningholm Palace is located on Lovön in the municipality of Ekerö in Stockholm County. It was designed by the architect, Nicodemus Tessin the elder, and was completed in 1699. The palace and other buildings in the palace area were previously heated using oil burners in each building, or in certain buildings, with direct acting electricity. Now, almost all oil burners have been removed along with electrical heating. The buildings are heated by a joint district heating facility, which is fired using pellets. On 27 November 2006, Astrid´s name-day, the burner was started and named Astrid. The use of fossil fuels has almost totally ceased, and currently, 98% of the area is heated using renewable energy. Carbon dioxide emissions in the area have decreased by 90% and the total energy need has decreased by 15%. The use of electricity for heating has decreased by 90%. Fuel costs have been reduced by approximately SEK 1.5 million per year. Energy from fuel oil accounts for just three percent of the total energy consumption, but the goal is to not use any oil at all. Not only have the emissions of carbon dioxide decreased; the phasing out of oil pipelines has meant that discoloration of the palace´s copper roof from air pollution has nearly stopped.

• Read more about the investment in biofuels at the Drottningholm Palace area, pdf

House of Sweden goes green

In 2006, when SFV opened the House of Sweden, in Washington DC, Sweden got its first "Sverigehus" (House of Sweden) abroad. The building houses the Swedish Embassy, office and entertainment areas for Swedish business, apartments and an event center. SFV owns and manages the building and constantly strives to make the building as "green" as possible. New energy savings are continuously being made and the electricity that is delivered to the building is green; in other words, produced by water and wind power. Right now the House of Sweden is undergoing a so-called LEED-certification process, which is one of the world´s leading environmental certification systems.

• Read more about House of Sweeden goes greener, pdf

New climate management system at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden

A million people visit the Vasa Museum on Djurgården in Stockholm each year to see the warship Vasa. It capsized on its maiden voyage in 1628 and the ship was salvaged in 1961. Since 1990 it has been housed in the current museum building, which is managed by SFV. A new climate management system was installed in 2006 to improve the indoor climate, which was not quite adequate to protect the ship. This also provided an opportunity to cut energy consumption and phase out oil heating. The museum´s proximity to the water allows for the use of seawater for heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. The indoor climate has been improved and electricity consumption has dropped by 14%. Use of oil has been reduced by 99%. The oil-fired boiler has been kept simply as a back-up. Total heat consumption has dropped by 60%.

• Read more about the new climate management system at the Vasa Museum, pdf

New climate management unit in Moscow, Russia

The Swedish Embassy in Moscow was built between 1968-72 with a mechanical intake and exhaust air system. In 2005-2006 it was time to replace the ventilation unit since it was inefficient and costly. It used a lot of electricity and ventilated away all heat in the exhaust air. The new ventilation unit has mechanical intake and exhaust air with heat recovery, in other words, heat from exhaust air is utilized in the intake air. With this action alone, SFV saved ten percent of the total energy consumption in the embassy area.

New energy centre at Harpsund, Mellösa, Sweden

Harpsund Manor, with its agriculture and forestry, is owned by the Swedish state. It is the summer residence for the Swedish Prime Minister and it is also used for official receptions. Harpsund Manor is managed by SFV. The site´s oil-fired boilers were replaced in 2005 with an eco-friendly wood chip boiler that now serves all the buildings. The boiler is fuelled by wood chips produced from the forest on the site. In the summer, it does not need to be used at all because the site draws its heating and hot water from a solar heating system. The roof of a machine shop has been fitted with 327 m2 solar panels. A small pellet boiler is used as a back-up in case of a lack of sunshine.

During a year of operation, a total of around 1,500 MWh heat is produced (86% from wood chips, 9% from pellets and 5% from solar panels). Through that, carbon emissions from fossil fuels have been cut by 425 tonnes.

In 2006 the project and SFV were given the European »Energy Globe Award« for sustainable energy solutions, and for the way the system was carefully designed to fit in with the surrounding cultural landscape.

• Read more about National Energy Globe Award to SFV

Varberg Fortress, Sweden, heated by waste heat

The foundation of the Varberg Fortress dates to 1287. Over the years, the fortress has been renovated and has had various functions depending on whether Halland has belonged to Sweden or Denmark and also what the needs have been. Varberg Fortress has therefore been a fort, castle and prison. The buildings behind the walls of the fortress were previously heated using oil and direct acting electricity. Now, all properties are heated with waste heat from a nearby paper mill, Värö mill. It was a costly project, which is paying off in reduced energy costs. There was an obvious environmental benefit from the replacement of heating facilities. By utilising waste heat, SFV no longer contributes to creating more carbon dioxide emissions.

Solar panels on the embassy in Cairo, Egypt

SFV strives to use renewable energy sources where possible, which is why the Swedish Embassy in Cairo has been fitted with 250 m2 of solar panels. The system produces around 37,000 kWh a year. On those occasions when the system produces more than the embassy uses, the surplus is sent to Cairo´s electrical network. As sandstorms are common in Cairo, the installation has been designed so that sand can easily be rinsed off to avoid operation disturbances. At the same time, in order to cut energy consumption, SFV has equipped all the offices with new light fittings that are automatically regulated by daylight and activated by motion sensors. In that way, the indoor lighting intensity is controlled by the amount of natural light available. When nobody is in the room, the lights turn off automatically.

Geothermal heat in Dublin, Ireland

The ambassador´s residence in Dublin has gotten a geothermal heating unit, which created a great deal of interest locally. For SFV, which consciously works with meeting the government´s established environmental goals with a focus on reducing dependence on fossil fuels, geothermal heat was a welcome alternative. The technology is uncommon in Ireland. Previously, oil consumption was approximately 13 cubic metres per year and the environmental gains are now significant. The investment is expected to be recouped in around five years.

• Read more about geothermal heat in Dublin

Environmentally-friendly heating at the Karlsborg fortress, Sweden

Construction on the Karlsborg fortress was started at Vanäs udde in 1819 and was completed in 1909. The fortress on the shores of Lake Vättern was the largest in all of Europe at that time. It was strategically built in the middle of the country in order to be defended from all sides. Behind the moats there was a small town with a hospital and church. At the Karlsborg fortress area, there are approximately 150 properties today that house both military operations and provide civilian housing with around 80 apartments.

The on-site district heat facility produces bio-energy that provides all buildings with heat. The district heating facility got an additional wood chip boiler in 2005 as a complement to the existing, larger wood chip boiler. The old oil-fired boilers are still there but are used only for emergency heating when the wood chip boilers are out of order. The annual oil consumption has gone from 550 cubic metres of fuel oil to around eight cubic metres.

The two wood chip boilers produce approximately 22,000 MWh of heat per year. The bio-energy is sufficient to heat all of SFV´s buildings - and more on top of that. This means that SFV can also sell bio-energy to the municipality of Karlsborg, the Swedish Fortifications Agency and an industry in the area. Naturally, this provides good finances for the management and a good environment for Karlsborg.

• Read more about the eco-friendly heating at the Karlsborg fortress