Kuulea technology innovation heats Kajawood studios buildings with data center waste heat

The Kajawood film studio and a green technology start-up Kuulea have agreed to collaborate. Kuulea, which specializes in cloud computing and heating solutions, supplies the film studio with modern technology that enables the heating of the properties with the waste heat from processing the film’s special effects and post-production.

Kajawood Studios is one of the world’s most technologically advanced film studio projects. It considers sustainability and ecological solutions and creates a cost-effective operating environment from the outset. Kajawood Studios is a unique concept that includes traditional studios, novel virtual studio technology, office spaces, production facilities, stage workshops, and five-star luxury accommodation on its enclosed premises. Kajawood Studios utilizes 3^rd party technologies and in-house innovations to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of film productions to promote sustainability. 

Founded in 2020, Kuulea was born out of a desire to innovatively utilize waste heat generated as a by-product of data center computing. In Kuulea’s solution that uses Qarnot Computing’s technology, data centers are decentralized in properties that need heating. Thus, the heat generated as a by-product of data processing is utilized locally in the heating of properties.

Making animations and producing the visual effects of movies can have a significant burden on the environment. For example, making a 90-minute animated film generates enough waste heat to heat the domestic water of a family of four for about 28 years. Kajawood Studios aspires to be a pioneer in responsible and sustainable film production. The environmentally friendly cloud computing and heating solutions will help Kajawood Studios and its partners reduce its carbon footprint and align with its strategy for developing modern solutions for the audiovisual sector.

“With our innovation, the studio can utilize almost all waste heat from servers for heating. Our carbon-neutral service helps Kajawood Studios towards more ecological film production,” says Kari Koivisto, CEO of Kuulea.

“We want to create a new and more ecological way of film production. With Kuulea, we got a part of the solution. We use the servers in our property for creating visual effects and post-production. The waste heat generated by the servers is reused for heating the buildings, which both lower our heating costs and reduces carbon emissions,” says Miika J. Norvanto, CEO of Kajawood Studios.

Kajawood invests in ecological energy technologies. For example, when the heat generated by the servers during summer cannot be utilized in the heating of buildings, it is stored in geothermal heating well to be used in winter. In addition to geothermal and reused data processing waste heat, the studio utilizes solar energy in its energy and heating solutions.

Nowadays, studios must be able to show their clients their part in generating carbon emissions. Kajawood Studios automatically receive a report on how much film-related computing processing has generated carbon emissions. This is important as significant players in the film and TV industries, such as Netflix, Amazon, Viaplay, and Disney+, already require increasingly ecological production processes from their partners.

“We feel it is important that the Kuulea enables us to report to our customers the carbon footprint of every animation and work process. We believe that this is the technology of the future towards ecological and sustainable values,” says Managing Partner Timo Puustinen, co-founder of Kajawood Studios. 

More information:

Chief Marketing Officer / Niina Ojala, Kuulea Oy

phone +358 50 5911 822
e-mail firstname.lastname@kuulea.com

Chief Executive Officer / Founder Kari Koivisto, Kuulea Oy

phone +358 40 774 4728
e-mail firstname.lastname@kuulea.com

Chief Executive Officer / Founder Miika J.  Norvanto, Kajawood Oy

phone +358 50 5397399
e-mail firstname@kajawood.com

Managing Partner / Founder Timo Puustinen, Kajawood Oy

phone +358 40 5148 577
e-mail firstname@kajawood.com