Antti Ahlava, Professor and Vice President, Aalto University

1. The Development of
the Otaniemi Campus, Finland
ASustainableIntegrationtoUrbanContext
Dialogue 1: Universities and Cities in the 21st Century, moderated by Chris Webster (Dean of Architecture UHK)
ISCN Conference, UHK, Centennial Campus, The Jockey Club Tower, CC 3.2

2. Contents
1. The Sustainability of Aalto University Campus Decision
2. Integrating Academic Activities and Campus Development
3. Societal Impact
4. The Sustainable General Plan of Otaniemi Campus
5. Energy Self-Sufficiency
6. Optimized and Shared Use
7. Biodiversity
8. Mobility

3. 25.6.2015
3
1. The Sustainability ofAalto University Campus Decision
• The goal of aligning the
organisation’s core mission with
sustainable development, facilities,
research, and education should be
linked to creating a “living
laboratory” for sustainability.
• Campus sustainability programmes
have concrete goals and can bring
together campus residents with
external partners, such as industry,
government, or organised civil
society.

4. Monofunctional
greenfield campus
Diversified campus with
BOTH greenfield AND new
urban development
Otaniemi Campus

5. Antti Ahlava
Ahlava - Mäkynen -
Niemeyer - Sotamaa
et al. HIGH-RISE SHUFFLE
SOUNDINGS 2010

6. Antti Ahlava
Ahlava - Mäkynen -
Niemeyer - Sotamaa
et al. HIGH-RISE SHUFFLE
SOUNDINGS 2010

7. 2. IntegratingAcademicActivities and Campus Development
25.6.2015
7
• Cross-disciplinarity as a paradigm
– Creative sustainability
(creativesustainability.info)
– Sustainable Global Technologies
(sgtprogramme.fi)
– Aalto Energy Efficiency Research
Programme (energyefficiency.aalto.fi)
• A mobile application to calculate the
ecological food-print of meals served in
lunch restaurants
• Cellulose-based products suitable for
technical textiles and consumer products
• SHIFT (Support Systems for Sustainable
Entrepreneurship and Transformation) is a
research project which deals with
investigating the roles of universities,
incubators, business development
organisations, financial institutions, design
service providers and other relevant actors
in supporting sustainable
entrepreneurship
Research areas
& Multidisciplinary themes

8. 2. IntegratingAcademicActivities and Campus Development
25.6.2015
8
• Sustainable development themes were
the topic of some 340 research articles
or conference papers (11% of all
publications).
• Within the Nordic 5 Tech University
Alliance, joint Master›s programmes:
Innovative sustainable Energy
Engineering, Environmental Engineering
and Sustainable Urban Transitions.
• In the strategic partnership with Tongji
University, China, Aalto is strongly
focusing on sustainability and green
campus issues, also linking the two
sister cities Shanghai and Espoo and
participating China Green Campus
Alliance network (greencampus.org.cn.)

9. 3. Societal Impact
25.6.2015
9
• Partnering is the paradigm
• Aalto Global Impact (aaltoglobalimpact.org)
• Green Campus Alliance Nordic Sustainable
Campus Network (aalto.fi/nscn): 41 higher
education institutions from Nordic Countries
• Innovative City® Partnership Programme with the
City of Helsinki
(innovatiivinenkaupunki.aalto.fi/en)
• Greening Events in Helsinki Metropolitan area
(greeningevents.fi/en)
• LUMA Centre Otaniemi; mathematics, natural
sciences and technology for schoolchildren
(luma.aalto.fi)
• Cross-disciplinary Urban Academy collaboration
with University of Helsinki: integrated biosciences,
sociology, geography, architecture, land-use and
industrial design education and research
Liina shelter house

10. 4.The Sustainable General Plan of Otaniemi Campus

11. 5. Energy self-sufficiency
25.6.2015
11
• The university aims at energy self-sufficiency by 2030 by defining potential energy solutions and
changing consumer behaviour
• St1 & Fortum collaboration: 7km deep geothermal 10MW plant producing 10% of the city’s heating: active
by the end on 2016

12. Optimizedand Shared Use
25.6.2015
12
25.6.2015
12
• Aalto University has committed to a national TETS
energy saving plan of the property sector by 6% in
2016.
• The efficiency of waste processing was improved in
2014 and 90% of the waste created in facilities was
recovered.
• The new renting model has diminished active area
and the target is 25% shrinkage for more efficient use
of space
• Info screens launched indicating e.g. energy
consumption and public transportation schedules for
buildings, to be integrated to a mobile telephone
system soon.
• SPIRE - a mobile app for finding car parking places
• ARVO (VALUE) platform for recycling
• Facilities as shared services for work, housing and
services

13. 7. Biodiversity
25.6.2015
13
• Students and personnel can rent their own garden plot at Otaniemi
campus.
• Decaying Garden is supporting biodiversity, in co-operation with
Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and University of Helsinki
Biosciences
• Grey water recycling

14. 8. Mobility
• The conditions for sustainable transport improved
by Otaniemi Smart Mobility programme, where
mobility is taken as a service.
• Shared electric vehicles and campus bikes
• Accessibility through renovations and signage
• Easy access for pedestrians
• Kutsuplus on-demand mass transportation
service