Middelfart city hall – sustainable from the get-go

What we build today, stands for up to 100 years. This is why it is crucial that we build sustainably. Although the number of sustainable buildings is on the rise, and the industry prefers to deliver sustainable buildings, so far client demand has been limited. A significant exception is Middelfart Municipality – a city on the island of Funen in Denmark.

Rambøll has helped the Municipality with the construction of a new city hall, where the environmental, social and economic sustainability is state-of-the-art.

Façade materials

Different materials such as aluminium, copper, zinc and natural slate, were examined with a holistic perspective. Aluminium was the option, based on an assessment of environmental impact, maintenance and aesthetics, among others.

Indoor materials

Here, we looked at the acoustic and technical qualities of the materials, emphasising different labelling schemes, such as the indoor climate label. We measured the air quality in the building through degasification from materials of formaldehyde and VOC, to create the best possible indoor climate. We also avoided epoxy, bromides, halogens and other toxins.

Measurements and quality checks

We carried out measurements of many of the finished solutions, including the efficiency of the building envelope, the acoustics in the building and noise from installations. We also carried out performance tests of energy- and other systems.

DGNB-certified with platin and diamond

The city hall was certified with DGNB platin + diamond, with the highest score on environmental qualities seen in Denmark so far.

DGNB is certification scheme most commonly used in Denmark. Its criteria originate from the German organisation Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen.

A DGNB-certified building lives up to the UN criteria for sustainability, meaning that is both environmentally, economically and socially sustainable. In short, this entails that the building impacts the environment as little as possible, the economic scheme from construction to demolition is as cost-effective as possible, and that the building is as healthy as possible for the people using it.