Energy-efficient premises

The city is working towards the goals outlined the Energy Efficiency Agreement for Municipal Sector. Some of the established actions taken include installing solar panels on new buildings or in connection with reparations. Additionally, solar panels are installed on 2-3 of the city’s buildings yearly. District heating, which is carbon-neutral, is used to heat the city’s premises where possible. In areas without district heating, geothermal heating and air to water heat pumps are used. Energy-efficient solutions are used for lighting and ventilation as well. The systems in use in old buildings are replaced with modern, energy-efficient solutions. We are also constantly improving the versatility and utilization rate of our premises.

The city aims to increase awareness of energy usage by making the information about energy consumption and production public. This information is available through the Visible Energy tool. The city hopes that the information regarding energy incentives residents to make energy efficient choices and creates opportunities for local businesses.

You can open a tab with the energy information by clicking ‘’Avaa uudessa ikkunassa’’ (new window) in the lower right-hand corner.

As part of the curricula, student’s awareness on energy consumption, climate and environment as well as sustainable development is increased. The Visible Energy tool allows students to see the energy usage information of their own school, which can be used to open the discussion about energy consumption.

As part of their environmental education, fifth graders are yearly invited to participate in the Eco Act Challenge, a national week-long event that aims to encourage increased energy savings. During the event the students participate in sustainable activities in their free time and mark their activities in a template called the eco act passport with activities which aim to save energy and increase sustainability.

During the years 202-2021, Porvoo implemented a smart heating system in 19 public premises: in schools, day-care facilities as well as the central library and the central fire station. The heating is controlled by AI in real time, which helps eliminate fluctuations in the heating of interior spaces. The AI accounts for weather predictions and the thermodynamics of both the building and its users.

The aim is to ensure steady conditions for the users, save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. During the year 2022, the use of district heating dropped by 16 % on average compared to earlier consumption.

A new type of district heating solution was implemented in Keskuskoulu. The school building will mainly be heated by the returning water from low heat district heating. This enables the usage of two-way district heating as well as the utilisation of waste heat.

The goal of the new district heating implementation and the predictive smart heating system is to significantly reduce energy consumption while keeping fluctuations to a minimum. During the first heating period the energy consumption dropped by 40 % compared to earlier periods.

Canemure – Towards Carbon Neutral Municipalities and Regions is a project that promotes sustainability practices. The project, which started in 2018 and is coordinated by the Finnish Environment Institute, brings together many actors. The project is scheduled to end in the autumn 2024.

The total budget for the project is 15,3 million euros. The City of Porvoo’s share of the budget is about 663 000 euros. The city’s share is used to look for ways to save energy and to produce renewable energy. Based on observed results, the successful solutions are implemented in other buildings.

Canemure (LIFE17 IPC/FI/000002 LIFE-IP CANEMURE-FIN) is funded by the European Union LIFE -program. This web page represents only the views of the project and the EASME/EU commission is not responsible of the usage of the information on this page.