Indoor climate in a residential landmark tower
The true innovation of this remarkable building lies within - both energy and environmental targets had to be met before winning the architectural competition and securing one of the city's most sought-after plots. The Nihdin Tower is located in Sompasaari, Helsinki, and is a great blend of sweeping sea views and vibrant urban living, inspired by shipping containers, the residential tower has become a landmark in the Kalasatama skyline.
Partner and resident satisfaction behind product selection
Developed by YIT, the building is constructed with Swegon indoor climate solutions in every apartment. The set-up includes CASA air handling units, CASA Tango cooker hoods integrated into the kitchen cabinets and WGI/WGO units. The latter is a Swegon patented wall-mounted product that can handle intake of fresh air and extraction of indoor air simultaneously, and without mixing the two airflows and risk bringing odours back in. See the façade image.
“We’ve worked with Swegon for many years and have been very satisfied. Products perform reliably, customers are happy with them and on the rare occasions when issues arise, they’ve been resolved quickly.”, explains YIT’s Engineering Design Manager, Aki Pirttijärvi.
He also says that YIT builds thousands of apartments per year, it is therefore crucial to have a reliable partner. "We can’t afford to experiment whether the ventilation might freeze during the winter at some site", says Pirttijärvi.
Products perform reliably, customers are happy and the very rare issues are solved quickly.Aki Pirttijärvi, Engineering Design Manager at YIT, on the long-standing partnership between YIT and Swegon..
A quiet life in the Nihdin Tower
Residents also value how quiet the indoor climate solution is. Pirttijärvi points out that noise is a major concern for homebuyers because many have negative experiences from older buildings. Sound issues have then been related to cross-talk and monotonous noise from air handling units etc.
In contrast, today’s apartments are built with strong soundproofing, and prospect tenants often remark on how quiet the ventilation is in Nihdin Tower.
Read our experts' blog posts about sound
Find out more about soundA decentralised solution for ease and floor space
Apartment-specific, or decentralised, indoor climate solutions are often perceived as more expensive than centralised ones. In this case, however, it proved the most efficient choice, both for financial measures and resident satisfaction.
“With the wall-mounted air supply solution, there’s no need for vertical shafts or a separate machine room. In a tall tower, this frees up valuable floor space.” says Pirttijärvi.
Lars Norrdal, Residential Director at Swegon, says that commissioning can be challenging in modern apartments as they are very airtight, even small changes in airflow can cause significant pressure variations. By adjusting each apartment individually, it is easier to ensure that the ventilation is balanced. All this can be easily done with our Genius system.
Building with sustainability as the primary target
Sustainability was a central theme in the construction of Nihdin Tower. The building meets local “Class A” energy standards, with most of its operational energy sourced from renewables.
Our customer emphasises that energy efficiency is top priority in ventilation design and that it is the reason why Swegon CASA Genius items are continuously being selected. CASA Genius enables residents to monitor the indoor climate themselves. They can either adjust the ventilation to their needs or let the intelligent control adjust automatically. Both allow for energy savings while no compromises are made with the indoor climate.
Learn more about CASA Genius
Embodied carbon calculations - standard practice
At the same time, carbon footprint calculations are rapidly becoming standard practice across Finland. Helsinki and Turku already require compliance with carbon emission targets for building permits, and new national construction law will soon change and include the same requirement. In addition, YIT has set internal climate goals, committing to firm criteria in accordance with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Pirttijärvi highlights that Swegon is a natural partner, much because the CASA air handling units come with verified EPDs and because we also commit to SBTi climate targets.
Here is more about our sustainability work at Swegon
