Utopia revisited : towards a carbon-neutral neighbourhood at Brøset

This book summarizes eight years of research, evaluation, and hands-on experience in developing Broset as a future carbon-neutral settlement. The project has from the outset tried to tackle one of the most burning questions of our time: how to reconcile the increasingly alarming messages from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with everyday practices in modern societies. These include transport, energy, food, housing, and the general consumption of products and services following in the wake of all affluent societies. The overall vision for Broset is to demonstrate how a new urban district can be planned in accordance with the IPCC s 2°C target and thereby show the way towards a carbon-neutral society. In order to accomplish this very ambitious goal, it is necessary for cultural, social, and physical structures to work together. Herein lies the biggest challenge of the Broset project and other initiatives that aim to close the gap between rhetoric and reality in this field. The Broset project is a remarkably ambitious effort to push the boundaries of sustainability at a neighbourhood scale by aiming for carbon-neutral performance. - Nils Larsson, Executive Director, iiSBE