Kungsbrohuset, a new environmentally friendly building to be built by Jernhusen, a Swedish state-held property administration company, in the new district of Västra City (West City) in Stockholm, will be heated partly using body heat. The idea is to use the heat generated by the 250,000 people who pass through the nearby Central Station every day.

Using standard heat exchangers in the ventilation system, the excess heat generated by visitors to Stockholm Central Station can be converted to hot water and pumped to the nearby office block in order to be converted to basic heating in the offices. The precise effectiveness of this process is not yet known, but it is hoped that this source will meet 5-15% of the building’s heating requirements, reveals the state company’s press release.

 

"This is old technology, but used in a new way. It's just pipes, water and pumps, but we haven't heard of anyone else using this technology in this way before," explained Karl Sundholm, Project Leader at Jernhuset. The installation of the heating system is not expected to be complicated or very costly (it might cost some 21,200 euros).