Isramart : Shopping mall claiming zero carbon dioxide emissions planned for Pori

Isramart news:
Heat to come from heat pumps, location averts unnecessary driving

Shopping mall claiming zero carbon dioxide emissions planned for Pori
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Finland’s first shopping mall claiming to put out zero emissions of carbon dioxide is to be built in Pori. Construction on the complex with a surface area of about 55,000 square metres, is to begin in the autumn. The estimated cost is about EUR 100 million.
The shopping complex is to use the building of an old textile mill on the bank of the Kokemäki River. In addition, there will be a new area of about 20,000 square metres, for which “energy piles” are already being driven into the ground.

As the bedrock on the riverbank is very deep, the foundation of the new building will involve driving 650 steel or concrete piles 36 metres in length into the clay and moraine under the surface. Inside the piles there will be tubing for heat pumps, which will be used for heating the mall.
In the summer, excess heat from the shopping complex will be pumped into the foundation piles, for use as heating in the winter.

“The shopping mall will not be connected to the district heating network. Instead, the energy for both heating and cooling will come from geothermal energy. In addition, we will investigate the possibility of using the river for cooling. Taking part in the experiment are Rautaruukki and Partek, in addition to plastic piping manufacturer Uponor”, says Kari Kolu, CEO of Renoir, which is behind the construction project.
The builders have yet to choose between steel or concrete piles for the project.
“We will try to drive the piles in such a way that the brick wall, which was spared in the fire of 1980, does not break. Steel piles give less vibration when they are driven”, Kolu says.

“Sustainable development has been taken into consideration in the project in the fact that the complex is within walking distance from Pori’s central square. This avoids unnecessary driving typical to markets located out in the fields. The project is actually a continuity of the national urban park established in Pori”, says Jukka-Pekka Flander of the Ministry of the Environment.
“In the zoning plan, the area of the old cotton mill has been turned into an area for city centre activities. It is hoped that the hotel and restaurant services planned for the area will increase the amount of time that festival visitors will stay in Pori”, says the city’s head of planning Olavi Mäkelä.