Buildings are key elements in solving the global challenges of health, resource scarcity and climate change. People in the developed world typically spend 90% of their time inside buildings. In Europe alone, 84 million people live in damp and unhealthy buildings, while 30 million people suffer from lack of daylight.
That is why we are committed to pioneering innovative building solutions that balance care for people and care for the planet. Through several full-scale experiments based on the Active House principles, the VELUX Group has demonstrated that we can develop carbon-neutral buildings with a comfortable indoor climate offering plenty of daylight and fresh air. In 2016, five of the VELUX Active Houses achieved the Active House Label to confirm that they live up to the criteria set up by the Active House Alliance:
- Comfort: the building should provide an indoor living environment that supports the health and comfort of its occupants
- Energy: the building achieves high levels of energy efficiency
- Environment: the building has a minimal impact on the environment
RenovActive – a showcase of affordable and sustainable renovation
To discover healthy, energy-efficient and affordable building concepts, we have implemented the ‘RenovActive’ project – ‘Renov’ for Renovation and ‘Active’ for Active House. Its aim was to create homes with a good indoor climate and high energy performance, which would be within a budget of a social housing association and based on existing technologies and materials. In May 2017, the first renters move into the home located in Anderlecht, Belgium. In the coming years, the social housing association, Le Foyer Anderlechtois, that owns the home plans to carry out 86 similar renovation projects.
Read more about RenovActive
VELUX Active House kindergarten
In Cologne, Germany, we cooperated with a local developer and a kindergarten to bring fresh and daylight into the everyday life of the next generation. Through a intimate partnership we created the best possible environment for the children of the kindergarten to play and learn in. With our solutions we turned the house, which was previously a passive house, into an Active House for the benefit of the children, those who work there and the environment.
See more in the video below.