BREEAM is the world’s leading sustainability assessment method for masterplanning projects, infrastructure and building. The BREEAM assessment evaluates the procurement, design, construction and operation of a development against targets based on performance benchmarks. Developments can receive one of five levels of certification including Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent and Outstanding.

The waste of 4,500 apartments and a school in Stora Ursvik is collected by the 300 Envac waste inlets situated throughout the site and transported, via airflow, along a pipe network measuring 3km in length to the central waste collection station. Three waste streams including general waste, food waste and paper are collected through the system.

The collection station is located within a building enveloped by a 250m² green wall containing 2,000 plants and over 20 varieties of grass and herbs. The living wall has ensured that one of the only aboveground components of the Envac system, which is able to significantly reduce the amount of space required for waste collection compared with traditional methods, blends seamlessly into the environment.

Tengbom, one of Scandinavia’s most prominent architectural practices, designed the Envac waste collection station on behalf of Sundbyberg municipality.

On securing BREEAM’s Excellent rating Stellan Fryxell, project architect of the building and sustainability manager at the architectural firm, comments: “In addition to enhancing the visual nature of the Envac waste collection station the green wall, which we wanted to compensate for the land used in building the unit, also extends the life span of the building, filters pollution and cleans the air around it. The overall design has many synergies with the sustainable nature of the Envac system and we’redelighted to be the architects behind Sweden’s first BREEAM certified industrial building and proud of the contribution we’ve made to Stora Ursvik’s urban realm.”

Since the scheme first launched in 1990 over 552,000 developments have become BREEAM certified. Almost 2,253,600 buildings across the globe are currently registered for assessment.

Joakim Karlsson, Chief Executive at Envac AB, adds: “This is a significant achievement for Tengbom, Sundbyberg municipality and, of course, Envac. Ensuring that the actual process of waste collection is as sustainable as possible is hugely important. However it is also important that all the other components that support this process share the same values. Creating a building that not only enhances the aesthetical properties of the Envac waste collection station but also offsets its impact on the environment is a huge achievement and we applaud the team at Tengbom for their creativity, imagination and excellent design.”