Global environment perspective

At Universeum, the systems for energy, water and material flows have been designed according to global environment perspectives.

The ventilation is based on the natural ventilation principle where the glazed building façade is designed to heat the incoming air on sunny winter days and cool it a couple of degrees on hot summer days.

Stone gabions on Universum’s south façade.

Suspended flights of stairs reduce the amount of metal used. To the left – ventilation from the experimental departments though natural ventilation.

Glulam joists below the “Utsikten” roof terrace. Solar panels sit on top of them.

Energy

Energy usage is low. The energy generated by visitors and technical equipment in the building is utilised as far as possible and converted in the building.

The roof is constructed to collect solar energy with the help of solar panels for producing electricity. The solar panels on the roof contribute to hot water production.

Geothermal installation

A heat pump installation redistributes surplus heat within the building, generates cold and helps to store solar energy in a geothermal heat installation.

Universeum uses the rock below us to heat the building in the winter and to store surplus heat in the summer when we have many visitors in the building.

We purchase energy from Gothenburg's district heating network to cover the remaining energy demand.

Materials recycling

While building Universeum our objective has been to use recycled material such as recycled steel as reinforcement and recycled aluminium in glass sections.

Recyclable material is also used in the furnishings. One example is the plastic chairs in the cafeteria.

The rest of the material in the building has been chosen from an environmental aspect and bearing in mind the manufacturing procedure and transport distances.

Blast stone

Blast stone has been used as a façade material in the form of stone gabions – stone that lies in steel wire baskets in certain wall sections.

Building materials ready for recycling

If in the future Universeum is demolished or rebuilt, all the building materials and design solutions are prepared for recycling.

Reduce water changes in aquariums with bio-bottoms

Bio-bottoms in our aquariums convert toxic ammonium into harmless nitrogen gas and therefore significantly reduce the need for water changes.