2015 WAN Sustainable Buildings Awards

The World Architecture News (WAN) Awards are a celebration of architectural excellence across a range of sectors and categories. The WAN awards program is the largest in the world with thousands of entries and hundreds of judges. At BE Collective we value sustainability through innovation so Snøhetta, this year’s winners of the Sustainable Buildings category, have got us talking!

The entry, Plus House Larvik was designed in cooperation with Scandinavia’s largest independent research body SINTEF, Brødrene Dahl from Zero Emissions Building (ZEB), and Optimera.

Aside from its obvious aesthetic value and finesse, the building features thermal solar panels (separate and in addition to photovoltaic solar panels) and geothermic energy wells. Through these sustainable initiatives the development produces enough electricity to power the family’s needs all year round – including the heated pool, sauna and electric car – and maintains a verified ZEB-OM minimum of 100% carbon dioxide offsetting rating.