Full house for the celebration of HSB Living Lab’s one-year anniversary

“We at the Ministry for Enterprise and Innovation are pushing to try to obtain more test beds where we can use new technology, and HSB Living Lab is a really good example of that,” said Minister for Housing and Digital Development Peter Eriksson (MP) during his speech at HSB Living Lab.

HSB Living Lab is a unique research arena situated in the Chalmers area in Gothenburg. One complete outfit specialising in finding sustainable living solutions for the future. Those living in the 29 apartments have now been a part of the innovation project for a year - a project which constitutes cooperation between trade and industry, city and academia. 2000 sensors spend 24 hours a day collecting data which can be used to find new living solutions for the future.

The 1-year anniversary was celebrated on Tuesday. The visit began with a presentation of some ongoing research projects which are linked to the HSB Living Lab building and to Chalmers. Presentations included building-integrated solar panels, city simulations and research into how much reconstruction goes on within the apartments. 

During his welcome, MD of HSB Gothenburg Lars Göran Andersson led three cheers for HSB Living Lab.

“We now have another nine years of research to go,” he said, indicating that HSB Living is a ten-year project.

After Peter Eriksson had been shown around the premises, a panel debate was held on the subject of “Smart cities, what do we mean by that?” where discussions concerned the challenges faced by researchers, housing companies and the politicians. The subjects of ownership, virtual town urban planning, the importance of abbreviated construction processes and smart cities and the way to get the most from the research which exists and is ongoing at HSB Living Lab were debated while many of the audience were standing all the way down to HSB Living Lab’s modern laundry.

The moderator was The moderator was Lars Marcus, Professor of Urban Design and Planning at Chalmers.

The panel:

• Peter Eriksson (MP), Minister for Housing and Digital Development
• Anders Lago, Chairperson of the HSB Association
• Anders Logg, Acting Area of Advance Director Building Futures
• Anna Dubois, Vice President of Chalmers
• Mats Bergh, MD of Johanneberg Science Park
• Ann-Sofie Hermansson (S), Chairperson of the Municipal Board

Peter Eriksson concluded the panel debate confidently.

“I think it’s all about using the new opportunities provided by new technology to build a more humane society where we invest in quality of life where people will be able to socialise and think of each other with love and kindness rather than distance themselves. I believe there are enormous opportunities to be had from the technology if we use it in the right way.”

The visit was jointly arranged by Chalmers, HSB and Johanneberg Science Park.

Read the press invitation