Helsinki’s Jätkäsaari district will be home to a new city block planned and developed to be a benchmark for sustainable city lifestyles: Low2No, meaning “from no carbon to low carbon”. The block will be built with low-carbon technologies and practices with the view of enabling no-carbon lifestyles in the future.

The Low2No city block will utilize district heat produced by Helsinki’s energy company Helsingin Energia from renewable energy sources, geothermal energy for the preheating of intake air, district cooling from Helsingin Energia, and solar power. The block will be equipped with a smart energy network and real-time power consumption metering, which will allow optimization of heat and power consumption.

Key to sustainability is development of such new consumption patterns that increase wellbeing and put a lower burden on the environment at the same time.

In addition to housing, the city block will be home to the new office building of the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, built from wood. There will be grocery stores that sell food from local sources, an ecological laundry, a public sauna, and opportunities for cultivating city gardens.

Construction of the Low2No block will begin in late 2011, and scheduled completion is in 2013. The concept has been developed by Sitra together with SRV and VVO. Low2No is the first site where the concept is put to practice.

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