Soletair Power
Soletair Power - Modular direct air capture of CO₂ integrated into commercial building ventilation systems
Lappeenranta · Vaasa (Finland) · Duisburg, Germany and 3 more · 2017 · Soletair Power. Partners and clients include Wartsilä, Helkama Kiinteistöt Oy, and Halton Ventures Oy.
The project represents an early but significant demonstration that commercial buildings can evolve from passive infrastructures into active climate mitigation assets while increasing real estate value. 8 commercial projects delivered across 5 countries confirm deployment beyond the pilot stage. The first installation in Denmark (Europaplads Building, Aarhus, 2026) marks a milestone as one of the pioneering building-integrated DAC implementations in Europe. The technology contributes to expanding the role of the built environment within broader net-zero and carbon removal strategies.
Highlight
Modular Direct Air Capture (DAC) integrated into existing heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems that turns commercial buildings into active carbon sinks — net energy positive, with negative capture cost, and patents granted in the United States (US) and Europe.
Extended description
Context and problem: Buildings are a major source of global carbon emissions, yet the mechanical ventilation systems already installed in modern commercial buildings circulate large volumes of air continuously — a stable, predictable environment well suited to cost-effective carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture. Soletair Power leverages this existing infrastructure rather than building new dedicated facilities.
How it works: The system uses solid sorbents based on functionalized amines combined with Temperature Vacuum Swing Adsorption (TVSA) to capture CO₂ from air circulating through the building’s HVAC network. The technology is designed as a modular retrofit that can be incorporated into existing buildings with limited structural intervention. Removing CO₂ from ventilation air enables a reduction in fresh air intake, directly lowering ventilation energy consumption. Captured CO₂ can be reused in industries such as concrete manufacturing or permanently stored to deliver negative emissions.
Why it is innovative: Rather than treating buildings solely as sources of emissions, the solution repositions them as distributed urban carbon sinks capable of actively removing CO₂ from the atmosphere. The retrofit capability — working with existing HVAC systems — reduces the need for disruptive structural transformations and facilitates integration across the current commercial building stock. Patents have been granted in both the US and Europe for CO₂ capture in building ventilation and CO₂ reutilization.
Why it has worked: The solution benefits from the widespread presence of mechanical ventilation in modern commercial buildings. Its modular architecture allows flexible deployment across different building sizes and ventilation capacities. Increasing regulatory pressure for low-carbon buildings — particularly in Northern Europe — creates favorable adoption conditions. Buildings offer the potential to capture gigatons of CO₂ per year profitably at scale.
Demonstrated metrics
Up to 20 tons of CO₂ captured per module per year; ~400 tons CO₂/year in a standard building deployment with 20 modules (estimate, not a measured figure). The system saves more energy than it consumes. Cost of capture is negative — revenue can be earned from captured CO₂. Eight commercial projects delivered across Finland, Germany, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Denmark, and Hungary (as of 2026).
Real impact
The project represents an early but significant demonstration that commercial buildings can evolve from passive infrastructure into active climate mitigation assets while increasing real estate value. Eight commercial projects delivered across five countries confirm deployment beyond the pilot stage. The first installation in Denmark (Europaplads Building, Aarhus, 2026) marks a milestone as one of the pioneering building-integrated DAC implementations in Europe. The technology contributes to expanding the role of the built environment within broader net-zero and carbon removal strategies.
Implementation location and date
Finland: LUT University, Lappeenranta (2024); Solar Foods, Vaasa (2023); Wartsilä, Vaasa (2022); undisclosed client (2017). Germany: ZBT, Duisburg (2022). UAE: Wartsilä, Dubai (2020). Denmark: Europaplads Building, Aarhus (2026). Hungary: Györ (2026). Total: 8 commercial projects delivered.
Co-benefits
Positive: Direct atmospheric CO₂ removal; saves more energy than it consumes; negative capture cost (revenue earned from captured CO₂); decarbonization of commercial buildings; reuse of existing HVAC infrastructure; only known method enabling negative emissions within a building; supports net-zero building strategies; increases real estate value; CO₂ reuse in industries such as concrete manufacturing; increased visibility of climate innovation in the real estate sector.
Limitations: Very new solution — limited long-term operational data; energy-balance and capture-cost figures are company-reported and have not been independently verified; the net climate benefit depends on how the captured CO₂ is ultimately used or stored.
Sources
Soletair Power official website: https://soletairpower.fi/