This Week in Tech: Snøhetta Unveils Northernmost Energy-Positive Building

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Last week marked the opening of Powerhouse Brattørkaia in Trondheim, Norway – the world’s northernmost energy-positive building. As the world’s population and the severity of the climate crisis continue to grow, we are challenged to think how to build responsibly – creating high quality spaces for people while also reducing our environmental footprint. Powerhouse Brattørkaia aims to set a new standard for the construction of the buildings of tomorrow: one that produces more energy than it consumes over its lifespan, including construction and demolition. On average, Powerhouse Brattørkaia produces more than twice as much electricity as it consumes daily through its solar panel clad roof and façade. The building will supply renewable energy to itself, its neighboring buildings, electric buses, cars and boats through a local micro grid. The project is the first office building by Powerhouse – a research, design and engineering collaboration of industry partners Entra, Skanska, ZERO, Snøhetta and Asplan Viak. 📷 @ivarkvaal and synlig.no

A post shared by Snøhetta (@snohetta) on Sep 5, 2019 at 3:24am PDT

Located in Trondheim, Norway, and designed by Snøhetta, the Powerhouse Brattørkaia office building opened last week as the "the world’s northernmost energy-positive building," according to the firm. Occupying more than 190,000 square feet, the structure generates more than twice the energy it consumes through more than 30,000 square feet of solar panels on its façade and roof. Powerhouse Brattørkaia will send its excess energy to neighboring buildings, buses, cars, and boats through a local micro grid. [Snøhetta]

Midcentury design reproduction company Death by Modernism has launched an emoji extension pack available to iOS users featuring iconic Midcentury Modern furniture and fixtures. The collection comprises 12 stickers depicting pieces, including Eero Aarnio's Ball Chair and work by Charles and Ray Eames. "We've always felt like there was something missing when it came to the furniture emojis in iMessage," the company writes in a press release. "What if you could use a Sputnik chandelier instead of the light bulb emoji? Or flex with a Panton S-Chair in your texts? How about using a Nelson Sunburst Clock instead of the drab alarm clock when you're running late to a lunch?" The pack is free for download in the Apple App Store. [Death by Modernism]

This spring, a team from the University of Detroit Mercy, Autodesk, and Case Technologies spent two weeks in Volterra, Italy, to help digitally archive the first ancient amphitheater discovery in Europe in 150 years. While the elliptical structure is currently buried under as much as 82 feet of earth, the team was able to map the existing typography above the ruins and create a digital 3D model using donated laser scanning and photogrammetry tools. [ARCHITECT]

San Francisco–based IoT startup Nodle is collaborating with French manufacturer Groupe Saint Léonard and the French government to install 3,000 Bluetooth-enabled benches and other infrastructure throughout 68 Metro stations around Paris. The team will reimagine the classic Parisian bench design, first introduced in 1850, with data-capturing sensors to track usage to assist city administrators in design and planning. "When working with a city such as Paris, the goal is to take the charm and mystique that makes the city so endearing, and bring it into the 21st century," said Nodle CEO Micha Benoliel in a blog post. [Nodle]

Here's a primer—or a refresher—on the best applications of EPS, XPS, and PIR rigid insulation on buildings. [ARCHITECT]

Menlo Park, Calif.–based tech-construction company Katerra announced the acquisition of Scottsdale, Ariz.–based UEB Builders and Peachtree Corners, Ga.–based Fortune-Johnson General Contractors. [ARCHITECT]