8 Mar 2013

Aalto University: New space for innovations

Open Innovation House, the newest building in the Otaniemi campus area, is filled with light and bursting with innovations. Within its walls it houses the most innovative ideas of companies such as Nokia as well as small one-man start-ups. All of them benefit from knowledge sharing and the relaxed atmosphere the open spaces offer.

This open hub of ideas is owned by Aalto University Properties Ltd., a company founded to centralise the ownership of the properties used by Aalto University. The new building is a part of developing the Otaniemi campus into a joint campus for the newly formed university that merged Helsinki School of Economics, Helsinki University of Technology and the University of Art and Design.

The university has ambitious plans to become one of the top universities in the world. One approach to achieving it is to enhance the relationship between the number of students and academic teaching personnel. In Finland the relationship between students and professor is 30 to one, when it compared internationally is 10 to one.

“This is one of the handicaps of Finnish university education. The goal would be to build the student-professor relationship from the very beginning of the university studies so that the relationship supports the student in graduating at the optimal time,” says Mr Kari Kontturi, CEO of Aalto University Properties.

The changes in group sizes will lead to a change in facility requirements. The need for big auditoriums accommodating 300 students will diminish and instead smaller group rooms will be needed. For Aalto University Properties, this is a significant transformation that is considered when planning the renovation of existing facilities and when building new ones.

In addition to upcoming renovation projects, Aalto University Properties has its largest project ahead of it when a new property will be built to accommodate art and design students in the joint campus. The new building, for which an international architectural competition is being held, Campus 2015, will be at the heart of the campus area. It will be on top of the future metro station at Otaniemi, another future development in this culturally historic area. The cost of the 45,000 square metre building is estimated to be EUR 200 million, which will require half of the company’s EUR 400 million investment budget for the coming years.

“We have to be able to finance the investments and upkeep purely on business terms. When we were planning for the building of the Open Innovation House, we prepared an overview of potential financing options. NIB came up as an option and we considered how our project would fit among NIB-financed projects. We initially perceived NIB as a financer of large infrastructure development projects but when looking closer at NIB’s portfolio we noticed that our project actually sits quite well among the range of projects”, Mr Kontturi explains.

As a result, NIB and Aalto University Properties signed a EUR 40 million loan at the beginning of 2013 for the financing of Open Innovation House and the renovation of Otakaari 1.

Aalto University Properties is a service provider to the university and as such, it shall be able to offer facilities enabling the university’s activities in accordance with its sustainability goals. In renovation work and when constructing, particular importance is put on technology solutions that are beneficial over a longer time span.

Aalto University Properties, being quite a small player in the real estate sector, with a market value of EUR 530 million and 300,000 square metres of real estate, has set a target to be among the frontrunners in sustainability issues. The company has, together with other real estate owners and holders in Otaniemi, initiated a project with the aim of becoming energy self-dependent by 2030. Different methods of energy production, such as solar, geothermal and bio-waste, are currently being investigated within the scope of the project.

“We also need to cut down on our energy consumption. Educating and guiding in order to improve the tenants’ patterns of behaviour is crucial. Even small efforts are of significance. However, in addition, we need to look at the utilisation percentage of rooms and halls in order to avoid unnecessary heating. With intelligent ventilation systems we can make considerable savings in energy consumption,” Mr Kontturi elaborates.

In the on-going renovation project of Otakaari 1, the old main building of the Helsinki University of Technology—designed by the renowned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto—special emphasis is given to upgrading the ventilation system. Large ventilation systems catering for the entire building are changed to more modern ones split into smaller flexible units enabling more efficient steering of the system. According to Kenrick Bingham, Facilities Manager at the School of Science, the renovation work is carried out with high respect for the original building. By placing glass walls the original floor plan can be slightly changed in order to better suit future needs.

In addition to the intelligent ventilation system, other energy efficient solutions were stressed in Open Innovation House. There are solar panels on the roof covering some of the electricity used in the building. The lighting has motion detectors and varies depending on changes in natural light. The constructions are such that they minimise energy loss and rain water is channelled to a pond from which it is gradually absorbed by the soil instead of going straight into the Espoo sewage system.

One of the happy tenants is the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) ICT Labs.

“The environmental solutions in this building add to the comfort of the working environment. The flexible and transparent space fits our needs perfectly. It facilitates knowledge spill-over and synergies emerge between students, researchers and business,” praises Kai Huotari, Co-location Centre Manager, EIT ICT Labs.

Another way to approach energy consumption is through contracting. Aalto University Properties has adopted a rental contract model including the electricity, something that is rare in Finland. The company has an agreement with the university on energy consumption levels, including yearly follow-ups.

“If the consumption has been below the target the saving in electricity costs is split between the university and us. Our aim is to introduce this contract model at the departmental level so that the potential beneficiary would be the party who utilises the facilities. We want to implement this in district heating and eventually in water consumption as well. We are service providers, it is users who can make the real changes,” Mr Kontturi concludes.

 

Related resources

01 Feb 2013

Aalto University Properties Ltd

EUR 40 million

Press Release

4.2.2013

NIB finances joint campus for Aalto University