Scandinavia’s first zero-energy hotel, also the hotel with the world’s biggest concentration of solar panels, has won the City of Solna Environmental Award 2022. Some 25 geothermal energy boreholes, along with a total of around 2,400 square metres of solar panels on the facade and roof, enable the production of more energy than is needed to run the property. In the long term, this means net-zero carbon dioxide emissions per square metre for the building.

The hotel, which is part of Nordic Choice Hotels’ Comfort Hotel chain with 336 rooms and 88 long-stay apartments, houses Nordic Choice Hotels’ Swedish headquarters and was inaugurated in June 2021.

- “It’s been a fantastic journey to realise the vision of a zero-energy hotel along with Choice Hotels, and we’re obviously delighted with this award from the City of Solna. The key to our success has been that all parties in the project have been committed from day one and wanted to break new ground to achieve ambitious goals,” says Maria Jansson, Project Manager at Fabege.

The City of Solna justifies its decision to give the Environmental Award to Fabege and Choice Hotels as follows:

“This year’s award winners have together created Scandinavia’s most energy-efficient hotel building. The property brings together hotels, offices and long-stay apartments, and thanks to solar cells, passive house technology and geothermal energy, it is Scandinavia’s first zero-energy hotel. With its 2,400 square metres of solar cells, it is the hotel with biggest concentration of solar panels in the world, with solar energy fully covering its annual consumption of electricity. What’s more, the energy is used intelligently inside the property, with the ability to distribute heat from one part of the operation to the rest of the building. Through intelligent and innovative buildings, the winners have led the way in climate-smart and sustainable construction, without compromising on convenience. It is not only a great initiative for the climate, but also sets an example and provides a key source of inspiration for all other actors building environmentally conscious and innovative buildings for the future.”

About the City of Solna Environmental Award
The Environmental Award has been presented since 2006. It is awarded to an individual or company, organisation, association or group located or operating in Solna for significant initiatives in the environmental field. These include work on sustainable development, climate and energy, transport, nature conservation, advocacy and sustainable behaviour change.

FabegeAB (publ)