Velux 5 Oceans - La Rochelle celebrates the opening of the Velux House

by Velux 5 Oceans Media on 13 Jul 2010 The doors to the carbon neutral Velux House were today thrown open to the public in the French port of La Rochelle. The official opening of the eco-friendly building, which was moved from Copenhagen (Denmark) where it was used as part of the COP 15 Climate Conference in December 2009, marks 100 days to the start of the Velux 5 Oceans round the world yacht race which sets out from the city on October 17.

Maxime Bono, Mayor of La Rochelle, was joined by solo sailing legend Sir Robin Knox Johnston, Chairman of the Velux 5 Oceans, and by Michel Langrand, President of Velux France, to celebrate the opening of the Velux House, whose message of sustainable living is shared by all stakeholders.

Sir Robin Knox Johnston said: 'There are now less than 100 days to go until the start of the Velux 5 Oceans and things are really starting to get exciting. The opening of the Velux House in La Rochelle marks the race's commitment to sustainability and will be a fantastic centrepiece of our environmentally friendly race village.'

Located at the centre of La Rochelle's maritime district on Esplanade Eric Tabarly in the Bassin des Chalutiers, the Velux House will showcase to the public how it is possible to build carbon-neutral homes by using the abundance of passive thermal solar energy coming through the roof windows while also creating a healthy indoor climate.

The Velux House will remain for one year in La Rochelle, serving as a point of information on the race for the visiting public and people of La Rochelle, updating them on news from the ocean sprints, skippers and stopovers. It will equally be used as a venue to showcase sustainability exhibitions and educational seminars on climate change, inviting personalities such as Jean-Louis Etienne and Catherine Chabaud to present their activities. Isabelle Autissier, confirmed as Godmother for the race in La Rochelle, sent a video message of support and will be invited to use the House to promote her various programmes at sea and with WWF.

M. Langrand, President of Velux France, commented: 'I am very happy to open the Velux House that the people of La Rochelle will host in their port for an entire year. This CO2 neutral building is a new way of living within which, alongside its energy performance, interior comfort is delivered thanks to the maximum use of natural light and optimal ventilation.'

The Velux House will form the centrepiece of the Velux 5 Oceans race village, overlooking the pontoons which will host the competing Eco 60s. The race village will be open to the public from October 9 and will carry the message of ‘Taking on the elements’, the race’s sustainability mission, supported by an exposition from race transport partner Maersk Line and other local eco exhibitors from the La Rochelle region. During the weekend of the race start, October 15 to 17, the International Velux Award for Students of Architecture will be hosted in La Rochelle, centred round the theme of sustainable living, and the Velux House will be a showpiece for the winners and 600 attending guests from around the world.

Members of the public can visit the Velux House as of today however to see for themselves how eco-friendly architecture and design along with solar energy and 0% emissions can combine to create a sustainable home for the future. The Velux House is full of fresh air and light thanks to Velux’s strategically-placed roof and façade windows. Because of the large amount of natural light entering the building, the need to use electricity to run lighting is reduced. The Velux House's construction is such that its three modules can be combined to create solutions to suit differing needs for space and facilities. In industrialised countries 40% of the energy consumption is used in buildings – the Velux House shines as an example of maximised energy efficiency, minimised emissions and visionary architecture.

Despite being placed at ground level while being used as a demonstration building, the Velux House is actually designed to be mounted on top of multi-storey buildings to replace former closed roof constructions and revolutionise the roof landscape.

The Velux House is a building experiment that demonstrates how a conscious combination of sustainable architecture, carefully selected components and the building’s surroundings can play a role in tackling some of the major climate and population challenges faced by urban areas all over the world.

The Velux 5 Oceans, run by Clipper Ventures PLC, starts from La Rochelle in France on October 17 and features five ocean sprints. After heading from La Rochelle to Cape Town, the race will then take in Wellington in New Zealand, Salvador in Brazil and Charleston in the US before returning back across the Atlantic to France.

For more information, please visit: www.velux5oceans.com