The Living in Light project is funded by Nordic Built. It started in 2014 and ended in december 2016. The demonstration projects are being implemented in 2017-2018.

Why Living in Light?
We are in a transition phase where the cities in the Nordic countries are facing challenges due to more dense urban environment in combination with the need for thinking in alternative energy sources. All of it in a contemporary context where the demands and needs are rapidly changing from traditional smaller apartments into apartments where daylight and green areas are one of the most important criteria to fulfill the demands and to improve everyday life and health.

The Living in Light mindset and attached solutions, is a holistic alternative to present focus, when refurbishing existing housing in urban context. Living in Light address people and people’s health and wellbeing, as the point of entry. This human focus is important, before focusing on the actual building. We call this focus; People before buildings. Daylight is the driver for attractive indoor comfort.

Often the focus is on reducing the energy consumption when refurbishing existing buildings. The long-term aim of the Living in Light project is to develope a holistic solution where the apartments are better, more healthy, having lots of daylight, are livable and attractive as well as reducing carbon emissions while saving energy.

The challenge
European cities have millions of small apartments (1, 2 and 3 rooms) from the period 1850-1950. These are residential buildings that in general have been built with a high quality of materials and generally attractively located in the inner parts of the cities. The challenge is that the buildings and apartments often are not modern and do not fulfill existing demands and requirements.

Retrofitting buildings from this period proves technically difficult and costly as to reach good energy performances. Especially the building facades show great challenges. Additionally, investments in low energy measures are neither profitable for tenants nor landlords, and have little appeal.

The Living in Light solution
The Living in Light project wish to develop extension solutions with glazing for multistorey housing blocks, both at the roofs and towards courtyards. In this way, they will secure new business opportunities, good comfort and low energy standards for old properties in cities. The solution are in 2017 being testet in a small scale in a Mock up demonstration. In the autumn of 2017 the building process of a full scale demonstration will be made at Gl. Jernbanevej in Copenhagen. The partners in the Nordic cooperation are also simultaneous preparing test project activities in Sweden and Norway.