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Finland's new "Silicon Valley", Ruoholahti,
is located close to the city centre in western Helsinki. The
new office and residential area by the sea represents a new
kind of urban development and has received several awards,
including that of the American Waterfront Center in 1996.
The area has been especially praised for its easy access by
public transport.
Ruoholahti's latest cutting-edge technology and architecture
is represented by the High Tech Center Helsinki Oy (HTC)
a "business refinery" akin to a technology park.
The building was designed by Wartiainen Architects and Evata
Finland. SRV Viitoset Oy, from Finland, was responsible for
construction in the two year project.
The idea behind the HTC is to form a work community of high-tech
businesses that increases the value-added of its members.
The working environment aims to foster creativity, co-operation,
efficiency and to utilise the latest technology. The centre
will employ 1,600 people. For example F-Secure, the Finnish
information security company, has established has it's head
office to Ruoholahti.
HTC consists of five buildings that have been named after
the ships of famous discoverers. It covers a total of 36,000
square metres. Its futuristic look is reminiscent of harbour
structures. The offices have a sea view and employees can
come to work on their own boat, if they wish.
SRV Viitoset is also presently building a new office building
in Ruoholahti for Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone
manufacturer. When completed, Ruoholahti will offer 10,000
jobs to the so-called second wave of information society top
professionals. Their work is predicated on improving the user-friendliness
of new digital communication and a broad understanding of
the dependencies between man, technology and nature.
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District cooling pilot project
in Ruoholahti
The new, compact high-tech Ruoholahti district houses
many properties, e.g. R&D facilities, that require plenty
of cooling power. To meet this need, Helsinki Energy,
one of Finland's largest energy companies, has initiated
a pilot project for the production and distribution
of district cooling in the area. District cooling is
a good alternative to traditional compressor cooling,
which consumes a lot of electricity, causes noise pollution,
requires regular maintenance and uses HCFC refrigerants
harmful to the environment. The production of district
cooling is environmentally friendly because it requires
less fuel. District cooling can be compared to district
heating with the distinction that instead of heat, it
produces a refrigerated circulating agent that is delivered
in pipes at a temperature of +8 degrees. The Ruoholahti
district cooling system is the first of this scale in
Finland. The extension of the district cooling operation
elsewhere into Helsinki is currently under investigation.
For Example, district cooling operations have already
established themselves in Sweden. Nine out of ten Helsinki
real estates utilise district heating derived from combined
heat and energy production.
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>> www.srvyhtiot.fi
>> www.htcfinland.fi
>>
www.helsinginenergia.fi
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