TEXT: Klaus Känsälä, Principal Scientist, Industrial IoT/Smart Energy/VTT, Technical Research Centre of Finland and Samuli Rinne, Project Manager, City of Oulu
MAKING-CITY LIGHTHOUSE PROJECT IN OULU Making-City Lighthouse project was is started in 2019 and will be continued to 2023. It has two Lighthouse cities, Groningen and Oulu, acting as pilot sites for new innovations and demonstrations. The main focus is to use local resources in living and mobility thus reducing emissions and promoting collaboration in city planning between municipal authorities and citizens.
THE new element brought to the planning table is called zero energy block (or positive energy district, PED). It is an area, which is self-sufficient with energy at least on the summer season. In Oulu the demo actions are done in Kaukovainio, which is a suburb of about 3000 inhabitants. Kaukovainio has been built mainly between 1965 and 1975. It is located about three kilometres from the city centre. Like many of its peers in Finland and elsewhere, it has had a bit downward direction at least what comes to the reputation and the general willingness to pay for the flats in the area. On the other hand, many of the inhabitants see the area a very nice place to live in. The City of Oulu and private companies have started a development program to promote this area to have more diverse social structure in the region. The perquisites are quite good, since the buildings are surrounded by green areas and a lot of trees. It is also a peaceful place with very little social problems. Thus, there is a new private-owned block of flats under construction (building company YIT) and also 28 RAKENNUSTEKNIIKKA 3—2021
new rental housing (built by city-owned company Sivakka) with high technical quality. In addition, Sivakka renovates one apartment block. More, the old shopping centre was replaced by a new one by Arina, a local member of S-group retail chain. Also, a multi-purpose building including e.g. school and library is one part. All of these are also a part of the Making-City project and they from the zero energy block. The buildings in this block share the district heating (DH) pipeline, the communication facilities and data collection system as well. The mix of brand new and renovated buildings combined with rental and private owned apartments and public and commercial spaces makes the area interesting and also a one well representing the practical situation in many cases. The people living in the demo area are also involved in the project and will be able to give their feedback by surveys and online user interfaces. One of the opportunities in the project is to find successful business models which can be scaled up to city level to boost the development towards green city goals and City Vision 2050.
