Verksbyen, a new green neighborhood in Fredrikstad in Norway, showcases the future of sustainable living. As part of the project, construction company Arca Nova Bolig is building five five-story apartment buildings situated in Capjon Park area in Verksbyen. The buildings are being constructed using Metsä Wood’s Kerto® LVL (laminated veneer lumber) products – making the construction fast, light and green.
Verksbyen will be home to 5,000 people within the next ten years. It aims to be Norway’s most innovative housing project. In the long run, the developer, Arca Nova Bolig, has ambitious plans to change the housing market much in the same way as Tesla has changed the car industry. It is a lot said, but they strongly believe in growing demand for sustainable building, which is the backbone of the Arca Nova’s Future Living concept.
Courtesy of Arca Nova AS
“We have managed to reduce CO2 emissions in a variety of ways. The houses are built with timber elements according to the passive house standard. Electricity is produced with solar energy and heating with solar thermal energy,” says Ruben D. Hansen, CEO of Arca Nova Bolig part of the Arca Nova Group.
“Building with prefabricated elements using Kerto® LVL products, we reduce both the building time and CO2 emissions quite substantially compared to the traditional way of building with steel and concrete,” says Hansen.
Photo credit: Tom-Egil Jensen, courtesy of Arca Nova AS
Fast construction with prefabricated LVL elements
Using prefabricated elements has proven to be a quick way to build. The buildings are rising at the pace of one floor a week. That’s just five weeks to complete a building. The first of the five multi-story buildings will be finished by the end of this year, and the rest by the end of 2020.
In the first three floors of the buildings, the load bearing structure consists of wall elements made with Kerto® LVL Q-panels. The floor elements are stiffened and stabilized with Kerto® LVL S-beams.
Courtesy of Arca Nova AS
Arca Nova AS building up a 5-floor block of flats in Fredrikstad, Norway. Building is a part of a new green neighborhood, Verksbyen. The buildings are mainly made of Kerto LVL. Photo credit: Tom-Egil Jensen, courtesy of Arca Nova AS
Metsä Wood has helped Arca Nova Bolig with their technical solution for the wooden apartment buildings. “Our cooperation has been vital to our success in creating a new design system for the Norwegian housing market,” says Hansen.
Building with sustainably sourced wood is also an environmentally friendly and sustainable way to build now and in the future.
Read more about the green construction at Verksbyen.
Location: Verksbyen, Capjon Park, Capjonstien 1-9, 1651 Sellebakk Norway
Building Year: 2019
Architect: Frogner Arkitektkontor, architect Mats Bjørklund
Structural Design : Sweco
Constructor: Arca Nova Entreprenør AS
Customer: Arca Nova Bolig AS
Products Used: Kerto LVL
Type: Residential Buildings And Gardens
End-Use: LVL is used in prefabricated wooden intermediate floor and wall elements
