ECO-CULTURE Buildings

The new Opera House, Oslo, Norway

Context

In July 1999, Statsbygg was commissioned to plan for a new opera house. In 2000, an international jury selected the architect Snøhette as the winner.
The Opera House is 38,500 m² in size and has close to 1000 rooms divided into three main sections: audience, rehearsal and administration and workshop. There are three stages: The Main Stage with approximately 1400 seats, Scene 2 with up to 440 seats and Rehearsal and Stage 1 with 200 seats.
On an annual basis, 200,000 persons have seen one of the shows in the Opera, while 100,000 have participated in guided tours and further 5,000 in special technical tours. In total, 1,500,000 persons have seen shows, participated in tours or simply visited the publicly available Opera roof.
The Opera House is a very complex building, and it has been demanding for everyone who has participated in the project. The building contains advanced stage technology, particularly on the Main Stage and Stage 2. The Main Stage has 16 elevators that can be moved up and down independently. It has a moveable rotating stage, two side stages and a background stage. Stage 2 will also be equipped with advanced theatre technology and a very advanced electro-acoustic system.
Energy focus was put on selecting energy-efficient end use. This means focus on energy-efficient ventilation and light by means on control systems. In addi-tion, the duct systems have very low pressure drop and thus low energy use. The energy supply is made by district heating, which is the most environmen-tally-sound solution in a city. The most visible part of the energy system is the solar cells at the south facades. The cells also provide solar shading of the south facade.

Solutions

Demand controlled and energy efficient distribution of ventilation, including humidity control. This results in a high maximum ventilation rate and a long running time for the plants. The users are highly sensitive to poor indoor climate and require humidity control of the air.

Control strategies for glass façade, light, ventilation, heating and cooling:
An integrated bus system will be developed, which works on the shading, light, heating, cooling and ventilation system. The design will be developed to maximise the use of daylight, and reduce the cooling, heating and ventilation demand. The Building Energy Management System (BEMS) will be linked directly to the internet for dissemination purposes.

A south facing glass façade with solar cells:
The Opera House has a large glazed south facing façade in the foyer. This façade causes over-heating without shading. A 400 m2 solar cell grid integrated in the façade can provide both shading and electricity. With the exposed location, it will also be a demonstration of the technology to a large audience. The façade will have a great exposure to the south, the sea and the public.

Energy data

Theoretical calculated total energy consumtion is calculated to be 217 kWh/m2. Without the techniques from the EC project it is calculated that it would have been 266 kWh/m2. This means 49 kWh/m2 savings.

First Hand experiences

In the Oslo Opera House, focus has been on intelligent demand-controlled ventilation, benchmarking of the results using the BEMS as well as a building-integrated photovoltaic system, which at the same time functions as solar shading.
During 2008, the energy consumption for both heating and electricity has been nearly twice as large as expected. Calculations and measurements have shown potentials for significant savings in both categories. Especially the electrical energy consumption can be explained by several factors: the original budget did not include the restaurant, the workshops or the electrical snow-melting system. These are all major posts regarding the electricity consumption. Further, the BEMS has not been put into operation yet.
Calculations have shown significant potential for reductions in heating energy consumption mainly related to ventilation, snow melting and room heating. Further, simplified calculations considering operation time for the ventilation units show that it is possible to reduce the electricity consumption by 20% by changing the operation conditions.
The solar cells on south façade of the Opera House have been running since 12 February 2009 and had produced 6112 kWh on May 29. In addition to having a utilitarian value, the solar cells demonstrate to the public that the Opera House is focusing on renewable energy and has concerns for the environment.

Public Project Report

Final Report.pdf

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