Norway to build northernmost green energy building

A planned building in Norway will be at the most northern location so far to generate more energy than it uses, demonstrating that "green" buildings can work anywhere, its backers said .A group including Norwegian aluminium maker Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL: Quote) and Swedish construction group Skanska (SKAb.ST: Quote) said it would construct the six-to-seven-story building in Trondheim, with offices and shops covering up to 9,000 sq metres (96,880 sq ft).
The building will use solar panels and sunscreens on an aluminium facade, which will have a new energy-saving ventilation system. It will also draw on geo-thermal energy and use other technologies such as heat pumps.
Over the year, it will generate more power than it consumes.
"This will be the world's most northerly 'energy-positive' building," Hydro Chief Executive Svein Richard Brandtzaeg told Reuters in a telephone interview of the project, due for completion in 2013.
"If we can do it here, we can do it anywhere," he said, adding that there were global business opportunities for Hydro in clean energy for buildings that usually emit greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels for heat, light and air-conditioning.
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Source: Norway News, June 2011